Bending the Rules
by Diabolical Penguin
Summary: My name is Jane Emily Potter yes, James Potter's sister . It was my Seventh year, the year I learned the most. The year I learned about evil, about good, about loyalty, and about love. And how to bend the rules.
1. Boys Don't Cry

**Boys Don't Cry**

People think I am the luckiest girl in the world. Why? Because I have the so called "honour" of being the twin sister of one James Potter. And because I have the famous Sirius Black living in my house. Maybe I am lucky. But I don't believe in luck. Luck is for lazy people. And trust me, I am _not_ lucky. If I was lucky, I would have been born in Spain where no dark wizards had armies of stupid assholes. I am most definitely not lucky.

But I do love my brother. We are pretty close and we do share the same talent for trouble. And he doesn't only put up with me because my best friend is the girl he has been besotted with for the past six years, but it does help.

However, right now, both James and Sirius are _not_ in my good books. I love them both, honest. But today, my dear reader, they went through all of my stuff in my room. Letters, clothes, books, boxes. _All _of it. Why? Because they were convinced that I had their silly little map. I do know what happened to it. It begins with an F and ends with an ilch. But I guess I have to start at the beginning. Or a beginning.

My name is Jane Emily Potter and I bend the rules.

_[5 days into summer after 6__th__ year, the Potter residence, 5.30 pm]_

Jane Potter was sitting on the floor in the family room and she was bored. Her father was on a late Auror shift; her mother was still at her job at the Ministry, and her twin was sitting at the table trying to work out what to write to the girl he was in love with, who by the way, hated him. Her and her twin brother had turned seventeen in March but neither had gone for their apperating license yet. Both were tall, James being 6"1 and Jane following closely behind at 5"11½. They both had unruly black hair; Jane's usually pulled back into a pony. Their hazel eyes were framed with dark eyelashes and they both had the trademark Potter smile. The twins look pretty much the same but for James' more masculine facial structure and Jane's pouting mouth. Jane likes to pout. It comes with wanting her own way.

Jane stared into the fire, being hypnotized by the flicker of the flames. However, she was pulled from her reverie by a knock at the door. Her head snapped up and she looked at James keenly. She was sure they were not expecting company, and in these days no company was always better than unknown company.

At her questioning stare James grunted. "Jane, I am busy. Get the door."

His sister scolded him and reluctantly got up and walked to the door. Wand firm in her grip and a spell on her tongue, she swung the door open. Everything fell out of her mind. Standing there was not a horde of Death Eaters, nor some fantastic beast. No, standing on her doorstep, looking like he had been gang bashed, was none other than Sirius Black.

He had a split lip and a large bruise was making its way onto his cheek. There was also grazing on his cheek, like he had been hit by something. His knuckles were bleeding and he was hunched over using the door post of support. He manages to gasp out "Jane" before he doubled over with exhaustion.

Eyes wide with shock, Jane stepped back in to the house. "James! Get here now! JAMES!"

Her voice was frantic. He rushed into the hall, wand in his hand and his glasses slightly askew. He paused when he saw his best mate looking like something the dog dragged in. James rushed forward to support Sirius. "Bloody hell Padfoot! What happened!"

Jane sighed when she heard the panic in her brother's voice. "James, calm down. Take him upstairs to my bathroom. The guest one is still flooded from your experiment and I don't think yours is safe. I will do what I can about his injuries. You get the spare room ready."

Used to Jane's bossy orders, James helped Sirius up the stares and into the second door to the left. His sister's bathroom was done in brown, green and gold, everything matching and organized. He seated Sirius on a chair and left him in Jane's capable hands. She had sorted out their injuries before and had healing equipment in her bathroom, ready for when ever the boys came into the house looking like hell.

[Sirius' POV]

My head hurt and all I could taste was bile and blood. I watched as Jane bustled about her bathroom getting potions, a few cloths and a bowl of warm water. It was obvious she knew what she was doing, and with a brother like James it made sense. I would have smirked if my face didn't feel like it was going to fall off. Instead I looked around the bath room. There was a large claw bath in once corner, a shower in the other and a sink to my right. A large vanity mirror was above it and a cupboard and basin was across the room. I looked up as she dabbed a warm, damp cloth to my painful face. I winced and she said, "Don't be a baby, Sirius. Just keep still."

I didn't want to think about what had happen. All that mattered was that it was all behind me. Now I just had to move and start over.

Jane whipped out her wand and muttered a small spell, her brow creased in concentration. She looked cute concentrating. Her forehead had creases and she kept her mouth tight, even when she was talking. I felt like something warm was being blown on my cheek, and then the pain subsided. She took out a rotten looking potion and dabbed a bit on my cheek. It stung and I squeezed his eyes closed to stop the tears and bit my tongue to stop from crying out. She moved onto my lip and I felt a rush of gratitude towards the young witch. It was just like Jane to help someone, anyone, before asking questions.

I watched as she brushed a piece of hair out of her face and was struck at how pretty, no, beautiful she was. No, wait. Where had that thought come from? I most certainly couldn't ever think that of Jane. She was, after all, James' sister, and one of the two girls in the school (besides his cousins) that would not hesitate to jinx me. The other being her best friend Lily. Pushing the thoughts from my head, I looked up at her. She looked like she was waiting for an answer and I realized she had asked her something. Whoops. Should damn well learn to listen to women. "What?" I asked, my voice sounding gruffer than usual.

She sighed. "Well I know these are not your only injuries. I will need you to take off your shirt. Unless you like pain?"

I smirked at her, a feat made easier now that she had healed my mouth. "Wow Potter, if you wanted to see me without my shirt, you could have just asked."

I grinned and she took off his shirt, but grimaced when I saw it bruised with a cut on my side. No wonder it hurts so damned much. I looked up and Jane smiled in self satisfaction when she saw the pain on my face. "Well Mr. Black, I did ask, besides, with these injuries I would rather see you with a shirt."

I scolded at her formalities and looked away to study the patterns on the wall, deliberately ignoring the pain. I liked her bathroom. The patterns were soft, but odd. And some parts were chipped from what I would guess is a byproduct of one of her temper tantrums. Once she was done I ran my fingers over my torso. It was pretty much all healed, except for the cut on his side which she had stuck together with tape she had charmed to be water proof. "Now Sirius, there are some clean towels on the vanity, you must take a shower and put your clothes out side of the door for me to clean. I will arrange for some clothes for you and will put them outside of the door for when you are done."

With that she turned on her heel and strode out, closing the door. I stripped down and did as she said with his dirty clothes and climbed into the shower. The hot water burned pleasantly down my back and I sighed, using her hair shampoo and soap. _Great,_ he thought, _now I smell like Jane; violets and vanilla. _

Once I was done, I climbed out of the shower and wrapped a towel around myself. My extremely attractive self, if I might add. I snuck a peak around the door and saw a pile of fresh clothes with a note pinned to the top. Pulling the clothes inside, I read the note.

_Sirius – You are lucky you had left underwear and a shirt here last time you visited; else you would have to wear James'. You have a pair of James' pants though. I asked Bonni to whip up dinner (James and I both got the Potter cooking skills), so just come down when you are ready. – Jane _

I smirked as he pulled on the clothes. Last time Jane had made something for us to eat – sandwiches she claimed were actually really difficult to make – Dora, Lily, Remus, James and me wouldn't touch them. However, Peter ate them and ended up with mild food poisoning.

Once I was dressed I surveyed myself in the mirror. My black hair hung in his face and my grey eyes pierced through it. I am freaking charming. Drop dead gorgeous. I have the typical Black good looks and I freaking know it. Too bad Jane didn't seem to notice. Wait, where had that thought come from?

**A/N**

Hah! So I have finally started at the beginning and fixed up what I had written. So I have edited this chapter a bit, fixed up stupid things I had done. If you notice more, please let me know! You don't even have to be nice about it.

I have also renamed this chapter. Now it is a song by the Cure. Gosh the Cure rock. I was born in the wrong decade…

-x-


	2. Expendable Youth

**Expendable Youth**

_[In the Potter's kitchen, Jane's POV]_

Seeing Sirius looking so beat up kinda scared me. Okay, scared me a lot. But you can't blame me. It's not every day you see the tough Sirius Black looking vulnerable. It is like seeing Lily battle with a charm. Or James suck at Quidditch. And once again, I helped him without even questioning him. I always do that, with everyone and everything. It falls under the Jane-doesn't-think-before-she-acts category.

But no one deserves to be in pain. No, actually, some people do. Like bad, evil people. Not Sirius.

So here I am, sitting in the kitchen, eating the pasta bake the house elf made. I could only wish I could cook this well. However, when it comes to putting things together (like in potions) I am terrible. Hopeless. Horrible.

In fact, even in life I am hopeless at putting things together, like information. Even when, to any other person, it is completely obvious.

Typically, I was so absorbed in my fabulous food that I didn't see my brother's best friend standing in the door way until he rudely interrupted my thoughts. "Ummm… Thank you, Jane. For um, helping me. And healing me. And for the use of your clothes. And thanks James for your pants."

I smiled at him and told him it was no problem, whilst James decided on how to word the question we were both wanting to ask. Apparently he could have thought a little harder on it. Why? Because it came out like this: "Erm, Pads, we like you 'nd all, but, um, why did you come here looking like you got cornered by a bunch of Death Eaters?"

Judging by the look on Sirius' face this was the wrong question to ask. But there was not a look of insult on his face, but rather a look of bitterness. Bitterness was embedded in his voice when he spoke. "I guess you could say that."

I gasped, unable to form words. _Sirius _attacked by Death Eaters. I wasn't sure if I believed Death Eaters was an all-evil so-called 'elite' group lead by some I-am-so-evil-and-bad-behold-me-with-fear crack pot. An awkward silence descended onto our kitchen, broken when James, who had apparently gotten over the shock of getting something right, spoke. "What happened! Tell me who they are and I will make sure they regret the day they first breathed!"

I could feel my twin's anger through the slight connection all magical twins have, and that only added to the anger I was feeling. But the idea of James going up against these 'Death Eaters' was ridiculous. Sirius obviously felt the same. "Prongs, don't be silly. You are no match against dark magic. Besides," He drew a deep breath, "it was my own bloody family."

I knew my eyes were as wide as dinner plates, but I couldn't help it. Finally I managed to stutter "Why, how, why?" Yes, I know, not a very intellectual phrase, but my mind had come to a numbing halt. How could someone's _family_ do that to them?

He looked at me and answered wryly "Apparently they didn't like it when I told them I disagreed with their obsession with the Dark Arts. After being man handled a bit too much for my liking I ditched and came here." He paused, suddenly unsure of himself. "Your parents won't mind if I crashed here for the rest of the summer, will they?"

I looked at James, who was standing there he mouth agape and apparently in shock. I rolled my eyes and looked back at Sirius with what I hoped was a warm, friendly smile. "I am sure they would rather you lived with us instead of your messed up family. Dad is always saying the house could do with more kids about."

Pure gratitude was in his face and my heart broke for him. He had just disowned one of the most influential pure-blood families in Britain. James broke out of his trance and gave his best friend a brotherly hug. "Now we can be BROTHERS! Imagine what your prune of a mother would say to _that_!"

Sirius laughed and I would have joined him if not for the weight of the situation that seemed to be sitting on me. Sirius and James _both_ living together? On a permanent basis? It is like mixing two chemicals and expecting nothing to happen.

My blood-brother and new brother looked at each other, similar looks of mischief on their faces and grins grew on their faces. Yep, this was my worst fear; a whole summer with Sirius Black in my house.

A sound in the hall broke me out of my thoughts. We walked through, knowing what we would find, and we were right. My mother was standing there, her silver- black hair falling to her shoulders, and a box of potions balanced on her hip. She looked at us, not at all surprised to see Sirius. "Good evening Jane, James, Sirius. I heard about the fall out you had with your family. You are, of course, welcome to live with us. Harold and I always said we would welcome you as a son anytime."

Sirius visibly relaxed and I once again felt my heart break for him. "Thank you Mrs. Potter."

"It is fine, Sirius. Now, would you, James and Jane be able to get your stuff, or must Harold and I go over to your parents' house?"

We exchanged look, trying to come up with a plan. I looked at my mother, deciding I didn't want Mrs. Black to unleash untold Black Magic upon her, I made the decision. "Oh, we will get his stuff. I wouldn't want to see you hurt."

I smirk inwardly at Mum's pursed lips. Yes, I have hit a nerve. And James knows it too. "Yes Mum. We all know our dear Mrs. Black has distinguished dislike for you, and we are sure it is mutual."

Mum sighed and walked to the kitchen. "Be careful, kids. And don't be back too late."

I turned to Sirius and James ready to hear the plan. Sirius has the trademark Marauder smirk on his face. "Say Prongs, if I could get us into the hole the Blacks call home, would we be able to use your invisibility cloak?"

James' face also morphed into the Marauder's smirk. "Yes Prongs. I think you have come up with a fantastic idea. And whilst we are at it, how about we cause a slight bit of havoc for your ghastly family?"

Sirius smirk turned more into a grin and I knew James had hit the jackpot. But I am the most responsible one of the three of us (I like to think), so I took it upon myself to point out some reality. "Well, boys, we should shrink Sirius' stuff down and put it in his trunk, the shrink that down and put it in a pocket of something. We must not forget the reason we will be paying the House of Black a visit."

The two self dubbed geniuses looked at each other, then at me. James spoke first. "Jane, you shall be staying here, at Potter Manor."

"Yea, Jane. My old place it too dangerous for you to wonder about. You could get hurt."

"Or worse, dear sister. Regulus might find you."

I can practically feel Sirius' anger at the reminder that his disgusting brother has a slight crush on me. But I am sure his anger is out shined by mine. I am quite proud to say, that where as Lily is a scary spit fire with a short, short temper, I have a scary cool anger, aided by the ice-glare I have worked on to perfection (yes, I practice facial expressions in the mirror...) and cold tone when I lose my temper, which I do try to keep in check. Therefore I was pretty darn sure I would win this argument.

I straightened up to my full height and lift my chin slightly so I was looking down my nose at the boys – another look I had worked on. "I refuse completely to let you two twits to go by yourselves without me to keep you out of trouble."

James looked a mite frustrated. "Jane…"

I silenced him with a look I hoped said I would make his life hell if he argued and continued. "I am not saying you can't have fun, but you _will_ need me there to get you out of the trouble you usually find. And…"

Sirius decided to interrupt me. "No Jane. I refuse to let you come with."

Who does he think he is? Telling me what I can and can't do. I drew a breath and look down at him (as much as I could, being a good 4 inches shorter than him). "Don't you interrupt me, Sirius Orion Black, or I will jinx you till having children is completely out of the question!" He paled considerably and I saw it fit to continue. "Now, we will need the cloak and shall we floo to your basement?"

Sirius nodded, obviously defeated, but James looked at me like I had just said that I planned on sweeping fireplaces when I left school. "No Jane. You are not going. And that is final."

_[2 hours later, Grimmauld Place__, Sirius POV]_

We were in the basement, under the cloak, making our way up the stairs. Once I reached the door with my companions, Jane drew her wand and pointed it at the door, muttering things below her voice. It was fair to say that she won the argument, not that she ever lost arguments. After what seemed like hours she looked up and said "No one is outside of the door. If we hurry we can make it to your room without anyone suspecting us."

I nodded, but James just continued to sulk. We walked silently into the kitchen, years of sneaking around Hogwarts making us soundless and light footed. We made it as far as the bottom of the stair case before a noise coming from a room to the left made us freeze. It sounded like someone was having a rant… to no one. But I would recognize that voice anywhere. Mother dearest.

James and Jane looked at each other, doing their freaky twin thing. They always did it. Jane turned back to me and grabbed my arm, pulling me with her and James into the room my mother was in. which just so happened to be the room I have fondly dubbed "the Room of People I Wish I Wasn't Related To".

On the walls was a huge tapestry with the Black family tree on it. Yes, you heard me right. The Ancient and Most Nobel House of Black have their family tree embroidered. And in the middle of the room stood my mother, her wand out, shouting at my picture like it could hear her. Fortunately I only caught the end of her rant. "— WHY I HAVE A SON LIKE YOU! BLOOD TRAITOR! YOU ARE NO SON OF MINE! YOU HAVE BEFOULED THE NAME OF THIS FAMILY!"

She sounds like a charmer, doesn't she?

She brandished her wand and fire scorched my embroidered face. I only just realized that Jane was still holding my arm, but her grip had turned to iron and she had a murderous look on her face. In her other hand was her wand, aimed at my mother. James didn't look like he was going to stop what she did, and I couldn't reach her hand so she began to mutter under her breath. Finally she put her wand down and I looked to my mother to see if there was a difference, but there was none that I could see. She was still fuming, oblivious to her audience. I gave Jane a questioning look, but she just shrugged and took her hand off of my arm. My arm felt suddenly cold, and I wondered briefly why I missed her hand's presence on it.

We made our way up the stairs and walked down the corridor until we came to a door that said "Sirius Black's Room". And in front of that room was the biggest prat in England. Regulus Black. My little brother was standing their trying to get past the "added security" I had on my room. Each spell he tried on my door came back to him with a hex or jinx. I smirked a smirk worthy of a Malfoy and waited until he tried another spell. As his spell hit the door I aimed my wand "_Stupefy!"_

The jet of red hit him and he want down. James took the opportunity to put another hex on him, whilst Jane looked at Regulus with a look so full of loathing I half expected his skin to peel off under it. I tapped the door handle with my wand. "Sirius Black requests that you open up. I solemnly swear that I am not a slimy Slytherin, but rather an extremely good looking Gryffindor."

The door swung open and we rushed in, leaving my brother's unconscious form on the floor. Once inside we cast some silencing charms and took out the shrunken trunks. Jane looked around my room (done up in Gryffindor colours, of course). We spoke about small things, like the British weather and who our new DADA professor would be. Finally, when we were done, we shrank the trunks and went back under the invisibility cloak. Once we left my room, I put the charms back on the door just as my mother noticed Regulus lying on the ground, apparently still stunned. "Oh my, Reggie!"

The woman stooped down and pointed her wand at Regulus. Then everything happened at once. My brother turned red and gold (hair included) and started to quote people in muggle literature (Yep, Lily had rubbed off on James), and my Mother's eyebrows began to grow, her teeth shrank, and she started to jump around, eventually pulling off her shoes to reveal rapidly growing toe nails. The three of us silently laughed as we ran into the basement where we flooed back to Potter Manner.

We three teens landed in a pile in the Potter kitchen, coated in soot, and laughing like there was no tomorrow. After I got myself under control I looked at the twins. "You two are bloody brilliant! Who did what?"

I had my suspicions, considering I had seen when they had their wands out, but I wasn't so sure. James and Jane looked at each other, identical smirks on their faces. James decided to answer. "Well, Jane cursed your mother, and I cursed 'Reggie'".

I snickered at my brother's nickname and Mrs Potter walked in, her eye brow raised in the same way Jane often did. I looked at her and smiled. "Mission accomplished."

She smiled and went to pour herself some tea. Jane leaned over and whispered in my ear, her breath sending shivers down my spine. "I just wish I could see your mother's face when she discovers her new tattoo."

**A/N**

Chapter has been edited! It was horrendous! I apologise. I wish I could travel back to a couple years ago to tell my younger self to stop mixing tenses and to pick between first person and third person, because there were sentences with both.

I am so sorry to have subjected you to that.

Also, title is a song by Slayer.

Unfortunately, fixing a chapter I had already written means it is nowhere near as good as if I had just re-written it, which I have no time for. So this will have to suffice.

-x-


	3. Mister Marauders

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER THREE- Mister Marauders

August 1st, Potter Residence, 6.30 am, James' POV

I, James Edward Potter, am awake before 8am. Yes, I know, shocker. You see, on every August the first since the summer before second year Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew would come to my humble abode to spend the rest of summer. But Sirius is already here. Hence why Sirius and I are waiting in the Hall for the other two Marauders. The aforementioned Black is bouncing up and down in excitement like a puppy. Ironic really. His (un)fondly named 'puppy wine' breaks into my thoughts. "Jameeeeees! How long? Jaaaaames!!"

"Sirius shut it. They should be here soon."

Almost as if they heard, a knock came from the door and Sirius ran at it and I half expected him to not stop in time. Fortunately, or unfortunately, he stopped and waited for James to ID them. With a sigh I poked my wand into the key hole and muttered an identification spell. Sure enough Remus John Lupin and Peter Paul Pettigrew were standing on the doorstep. I laughed and opened the door, welcoming the rest of the Marauders into the Hall. Remus smiled, his slightly scarred face lighting up. "James! Sirius! How are you?"

"Pretty good Moony! Peter, have you shrunk?"

We all laughed at Sirius' reply. Peter's height was a favorite joke for him. Standing 5"4½ was the chubby boy we all loved. The shortest of us all. Remus, the tallest, stood at 6"2½, I stood at 6"1, Sirius at 6" and Jane at 5"10½. Hell, even Lily Evan was taller than him, reaching above him at 5"6. But for all he looked weak and wimpy, he was quite sharp. Noticed things no one else did. He was still laughing off Sirius' joke when he asked "Where is Jane?"

I smirked as her shrill scream echoed through the house. "JAMES EDWARD POTTER! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Remus shook his head as my darling twin came flying down the stairs in her orange pjs that read 'There is no sin except stupidity' across the front. Her grace never ceased to amaze me. She was fast and swift and graceful. Even in her pjs, in a temper with her hair sticking up in every direction she could put the Queen to shame. And as much as I hate to admit it, she was pretty intimidating. "I am trying to get some nice sleep, assuming that you, as the nice, caring brother you are, will at least leave me alone. But no. I have to wake up BEFORE 8AM when my sheets and pillows start to dance! I am going to use a permanent sticking charm on your ass…"

I never found out where my ass was going to be stuck, because right at this moment Jane realized that Remus and Peter were watching her with slight amusement. She ran at Peter and engulfed him in a massive hug. Not wonder most guys in Hogwarts were jealous of him. He had _the_ Jane Potter hug him, one of the most sought after girls at Hogwarts. Not that she ever dated any of them. "Peter! How are you? Enjoying your Summer?"

He nodded meekly in return and patted her awkwardly on the back. He wasn't a hugging type of person. She then turned her attentions to Remus and launched herself into him. "Remus! You are getting tall. Found a girlfriend yet?"

Our resident werewolf blushed red, finally out of my twin's grip. "No, you nosey girl. Do I need one?"

Sirius answered for her. "Yes you do. You mope around far too much." He turned to Jane, his arms stretched out. "Do I get a hug, oh fair maiden?"

Her eyebrow rose perfectly (I swear she practices that) and she out her nose just slightly in the air making her look down on him, despite the 1½ inch height difference. "No. You either aided James in his cruel way of disturbing my sleep, or just did not stop him. As consequences you shall get no hug."

For a moment he looked disappointed, but I just put that to the back of my mind as I found myself staring into a glaring version of my eyes. I could feel her fury through the mind-link thing we twins have. But there was also amusement. I put on my charming smile, ready for her shouting. But instead her voice came out soft but cold. "James, you could have woken my up nicely, or forewarned me yesterday, but you did not. You crudely woke me up with a petty prank. Now wipe that grin off your face. You cannot charm me and you know that."

'Petty prank'? Did she not see the brilliance in it? I took a leaf out of her book and use something she was pretty much infamous for; timing spells. They are one of the few reasons why she never gets in trouble at Hogwarts; if she wasn't there when the jinx/ hex/ spell/ curse happened then how could she have doe it? I think I should point this out to her. "Jane, dear, did you not notice I use a timing spell you perfected? And now we have a new prank to pull on the Slytherins. Besides, I know you are amused. Don't hide it, I can feel it."

She glares at me, a silent warning to say more. The mind-link thing I mentioned is actually one of our big secrets. _No one_ could find out about it. Not even the Marauders. Jane sighed, her face softening and her eyes rolling. "Sure sure James. Just don't do it again, or else I will try out my new idea for a prank on you."

Yes, I believed her, and yes, I shall not try anything on her for the rest of the summer. Why do I give in? Well firstly, none of her pranks are nice, and secondly, she has _that_ look in her eyes that makes you agree to everything she says because you are too scared shitless to disagree. Sometimes I think that she could make even Voldemort do her laundry. We four boys (and one girl) now make our way into the lounge laughing and catching up on what everyone has been up to. These are the four people I would die for, and we all feel comfortable around each other and I know I can count on them.

Once we have all settled down Remus begins. "And so in one month we shall begin our seventh and final year at Hogwarts."

Sirius continues. "We shall make this year the best; no Slytherin un- pranked, no rule unbroken."

My turn. "For we are the Marauders and that is what we do best."

Peter. "Besides charming the teachers and being plain cool."

Now we all pause here for dramatic effect, however the 'effect' is broken by Jane's hysterical laughter. What? We thought we were cool! Apparently she thinks otherwise. "You- giggle- guys- giggle giggle- are so- giggle gasp- pathetic!"

Now she is laughing again. Elegant 'giggles' are gone and now we have hysterics, including the occasional snort; a feat that is only possible make graceful by Jane. Peter looks embarrassed, Remus shameful, but Sirius has a look of mock hurt on his face. I, however, feel very belittled. Thank Merlin Lily isn't here to see it. Lily, the only Angel I know. Her striking emerald eyes, her beautiful red hair, her charming voice… so perfect. She is perfect. Perfect to look at, perfect at what she does. Apparently too perfect for me.

Oh, people are talking to me. Whoops, daydreamed a bit there. Yep, it's Sirius speaking. "…still off in Lily-Land. You can tell by the distant look on his face and how he sighs the whole time."

"Thanks Pads. And I will have you know, Lily-Land is the best place in the world."

"James!" Jane mockingly slaps my arm. "Stay on Earth please. As I was saying, you boys are pathetic! You actually start you 'meetings' like that!? Merlin. I mean really."

Pause. Long pause actually. Just short of awkward silence.

Jane "Well…?"

Now it's awkward.

Sirius is about to speak. One of two things will happen. Firstly, he will damn us all. Secondly, he will charm our way out. That former being the most likely. "We are Marauders, m' dear. And a Marauder never divulges the ways or secrets of the Marauders." He finished with a wink.

Now with any other person that would charm them enough to let us off with our prides' intact, however, this _is_ Jane. And Sirius _obviously_ forgot this. Remus groans and Peter hits his head. Yep, Sirius Black just Damned us all.

My dear sister has just turned her scariness on. And let me tell you, she is _really_ scary. "Marauders' secret? Pft Sirius. I haven't fallen for that one since second year. Face the truth. You, as in _all of you_, are stuck in some delusion. I wouldn't be at all surprised if you had a secret hand shake. But I will leave you all be with your childish game and get breakfast."

Peter is laughing. Remus looks ashamed. My ego had just been deflated, and by the pained expression on Sirius' face, so has his. She glided out of the room muttering something that sounded suspiciously like 'honestly' and 'immature toe rags'.

Silence descended on us once more then we all began to laugh and followed her to the kitchen where our house elf had left breakfast for us all.

Once we were all sitting at the table (or in Jane's case, on the table) we began our discussion about pranks. "So, anyone got ideas for pranks?"

Sirius grinned broadly. "We could charm the Slytherins so that they are all red and gold."

Jane shook her head. "You guys did that in 4th year."

Sirius pouted and slouched in his chair. Remus had a thoughtful frown and Peter was working out new ways to drink his pumpkin juice. I cleared my throat to get their attention. "How about we charm the Great Hall's ceiling to rain on the Slytherins?"

Jane groaned. "5th year."

We lapsed into silence again. I'm scared. Maybe we are loosing our touch!?

Remus slammed his hands on the table making Jane squeak and peter fall off his chair. "I got it! It will be tricky, but I got it!"

Pause. Sirius looked at Remus as though he had just proclaimed to be a werewolf, or well, if he wasn't a werewolf…

"Well? Are we going to hear this plan?"

"Oh yes. Of course." Our resident werewolf cleared his throat and continued. "We will need to work on turning it into a blanket charm, and we will need Jane's help with it, but we should confound the Slytherins during dinner and repeat it every night for a week. Not the feast though. Don't want to scare the poor firsties."

Peter clapped. I patted Lupin on the back and Sirius mutter 'brilliant' over and over again. Jane, however, looked horribly confused. "Why would you need my help with that, Remy? You know blanket charms are more your thing than mine."

Peter's head slammed into the table as he groaned at how oblivious Jane was. Sirius rolled his eyes. "Jane, Jane, Jane… Only you, Jane."

Yes, my sister could be extremely dense. I could only shake my head in wonderment. Remus however smiled at her as though he expected nothing less. "Jane, cant you tell me what your most successful spell are?"

"Sticking charms, stinging hexes, levitating charms, the red boil jinx, the growth charm and timing spells."

This is the part where you would expect her to smile in recognition, but no. She is looking at Moony like he just asked her what a werewolf was. Exasperated he continued. "Yes, Jane. Timing spells. I will need your help with creating a blanket confundus charm with a timing spell. Then we get Prongs and Padfoot to set it up and Peter to do what he does best and point out any loop holes."

Jane now had her diabolical smile on her face. She has lots of different smiles. There is her I-am-innocent smile, her I-want-you-to-_think_-I-am-innocent smile, the famous charming smile, the get-out-of-trouble smile, the I-am-lying-but-you-will-believe-me smile, the you-are-mentally-challenged-and-I-feel-sorry-for-you smile, the I-am-about-to-kick-Antonin-Delohov's-ass smile, her happy smile, her pretend happy smile, her I-don't-want-to-be-here-but-I-am smile, her diabolical smile, the having fun smile, the I-am-only-pretending-to-understand smile, the often seen I-just-caused-trouble smile, the smile reserved for when she is doing Ancient Runes and my personal favourite; her loving smile. (Yea, I'm sappy, so sue me.) She usually smiles that smile when she gets me out of trouble. (See my point?)

Right now it is the diabolical smile. "I'm in."

Slytherin should be very scared about now. _Very_ scared.

_AN_

_Sorry about the delay. I have been really sick and my teachers kinda IGNORE the fact that we get homework in all subjects. __But I am taking a break right now to write, even though I have an incomplete (cough not started) Art essay due yesterday, a drama essay due tomorrow, a physics assignment I really should do and a music composition that is currently un-composed. Lucky me._

_And sorry if this chapter is terrible, but meh, I have just run out of butter menthol (God bless he/she who first created it) and I have maybe too much Advil in my system…_

_Thanks for the reviews! _

_Ohhh, and new story up btw! _

_Camia_


	4. It's Always the Quiet Ones

**CHAPTER FIVE – It's Always the Quiet Ones**

Holidays went well; great actually. The public trouble-makers commonly referred to as the Marauders stayed on, finding solace from the pains of getting an education in the simple pleasures; good food, prank-planning and frequent exploring in the muggle-world. And the troubles of the world, concerning one Mr. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, were forgotten. Mostly. But the deeds of the teenagers were welcomed as a little bit of laughter in such a dark time. Days passed, and soon it was time for them to start packing for their final year at Hogwarts.

_[Remus' Point Of View]_

First, let me introduce myself. My name is Remus Lupin. Nothing really fancy about it. But that's me; simple and straight forward always win out with me. Simple is usually pretty effective, so I have no idea why people go and complicate things. Maybe they like not knowing what is going? I don't know. And I don't really mind; whatever works, right? And if you are the sort who likes things complicated and fancy, go for it. Just don't expect me to go along with it. Not that complicated things are bad; life is complicated. If life is like a chess game, then every move should be simple in itself, but together they are all complicated and make up something grand.

Yes, I'm a nerd. Deal with it.

So today is the day we embark on our final trip to Hogwarts. And honestly? I'm sad. Hogwarts is the place I feel I belong. Everything good that has ever happened to me has happened at Hogwarts. Like friends. True friends who stand by me no matter what. I cannot believe how incredibly lucky I am to have found James and Sirius and Peter and Lily and Jane. Honestly. And I love them all. And if anything were to happen to one of them… well I don't know how I would cope. So I guess that would be why I try my best to keep them out of trouble, because as a realist I know that very soon, if not already, the proverbial shit is going to hit the fan.

And then? Well there are going to be a lot of people who will use it to extract revenge on them. Mostly Sirius and James, and probably Jane, but still. And as much as some of them, in particular Jane, deny the fact that we have a dark wizard on the loose, I know that there probably is, and plenty people are going to get hurt.

But enough with those sombre thoughts. Life is for living, not dwelling on the bad things. Right now… it is about 6am, and I am sitting in the Potters' kitchen waiting for James and Sirius to make their entrance. Peter already has; his head is resting on his hand as he seems to drift between consciousness and dreamland. Taking a bite out of my toast, I contemplate what could possibly take James and Sirius so long to get themselves ready. Not that I am surprised, but still one of life's little mysteries.

Sure enough, not a minute passes before they grace the kitchen with their presence. Now Sirius actually _does_ look like he has spent a couple hours getting ready. James? He seems to have spent the past hour and a half making sure he looks like he never spends any time on how he looks. It doesn't make any sense. But who am I to question the inner workings (or lack there of) of James Potter's mind?

"And now, for the finishing touches…" James begins, a cocky and arrogant grin covering his face as he pulls out a shiny badge and pins it onto the front of his shirt. "Head Boy. Suck on that, Slytherin!"

Can anyone blame me for rolling my eyes? But I do love him. In a completely non-gay way. I promise. And I can even guess his thoughts at the moment; something along the lines of Lily Evans. Not that it is hard to guess that; chances are he is either thinking about Lily, food, pranks or Quidditch, and seeing as the first is the only one that causes him to sigh, I'm putting my money on it.

About to let my thoughts be heard, the kitchen door slams open. The grand entrance of one Jane Potter, who, for once, did not look very elegant. Obviously back from a run, her pony tale was mussed, causing more fly-aways than Sirius had stalkers. Her face was pretty flushed and her legs stuck out from underneath her red running shorts like long pegs that seemed to go on forever; no wonder Sirius was having a hard time keeping his eyes off her.

"Morning boys!" She said in a rather out-of-breath way as she picked up a piece of toast James had just smeared jam on and took a bite. "Last first day ever!"

Laughing, I leaned back in my chair. "Good morning Jane. Have a nice run? You know, with the state the world is in, you probably shouldn't go running by yourself." I said, as usual, full of responsibility. Obviously.

"You worry too much, Remus." She answered before taking another bite. "The most dangerous thing out there is probably Mrs. Peach's dog, and even she keeps it on a chain."

I have to shake my head at her stubbornness. Or rather, her carelessness. Convincing her that Death Eaters are _real_ is like trying to drag an elephant; rather pointless and you are going to get no where. So giving up is probably a good idea.

"Morning… Jane…" Sirius finally managed to mutter, his eyes wider than I had ever seen them. Not that she noticed; hell, if he had a neon sign above his head saying 'I CAN'T TAKE MY EYES OFF OF YOU' she wouldn't notice. But James did. And he seemed rather… indignant about it.

"Jane, we are going to be late. You should go put some clothes on." He said, glaring at his sister. I sometimes wish I had a sibling like that.

"Whatever, James." Was her only response. And with that she sat down on the chair across from Sirius. And he was still staring at her. How she doesn't notice that sort of thing, I have no idea. Which brings me to wonder _why _Sirius had this sudden fascination with her.

After years of knowing her, why now? Though to be honest I think it might have to do with the fact that she looked particularly natural at this point in time, and well… It is probably forcing Sirius to see her in a different light or something. Or whatever it is. Either way, James doesn't seem overly impressed by it at all. Which I find rather amusing. But I am not surprised; Sirius is his best mate, and who is entirely comfortable with their best mate eyeing their sister?

Now if I had a sister, I would wish she was like Jane. And I love her like she was my sister. I hope James realises how lucky he is to have a sister like Jane. Because she genuinely cares. About everyone. It was hard to get used to her caring for me and looking after me around that time of the month, but now? I really appreciate it. James and Sirius and Peter are great and all, but they lack that motherliness that Jane has that makes you feel better when she cleans up your wounds.

But she isn't perfect. She and James are probably the two most conceited people I know. To most people, she seems like a spoilt brat. To people who know her? They _know_ she is a spoilt brat. Jane gets her way. The end. And she can be down right cruel. As much as she genuinely cares, if you get on her bad side I can promise you one thing; life is going to be hell.

All things considered, I don't think I would ever even consider her to be dating material. Aside from the whole sister-thing, I would never be able to date someone so demanding. On the other hand, I think that would be good for Sirius. A break from his usual. But oh Merlin, imagine the havoc if the two of them _did_ get together.

After a few minutes of carefree banter, and about an hour later, we are all standing at Platform 9 ¾. "Lily!" James bellows from next to me at the attractive red head who has approached us with a smile that could light up anywhere. Except when her eyes land on James it turns into quite the scowl.

"Oh Merlin. I thought they would have sold you by now." Oh yes, Lily is ever so loving to James. As usual, his face falls and she turns her back on him, this time to greet everyone else.

After establishing that Lily had spent a lovely summer in Hawaii, Peter hadn't grown, I still had no girlfriend and Jane had indeed gotten her hair cut, we finally turn, once again, to face the platform. "Well, Lily and boys," Jane said, turning to face us. "Last time we ever do this as students. Next time? As graduates."

"Unless you fail, Jane." Comes Sirius' teasing comment.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Please, you are most likely to fail, Sirius. Or get expelled. Both probabilities are about the same." Cue laughter. "Jane, is Dorcus already on the platform?" Lily asked, laughter still in her eyes.

"Yep. Her brother's first year. She said it was a 'family thing'." Jane answered before disappearing through the barrier.

Lily laughed light and followed her best friend. And James? Was in Lily-Land. Again. Surprise surprise. It was like he was in a trance as he walked through the barrier, followed by Sirius who was shaking his head. Peter waddled after. He was an odd boy. Quiet and definitely a follower. But he was sweet. And with a smile, I followed them through the barrier for the last time. Slightly disorientated, like I usually am when I walk through the barrier, it took me a moment to locate my friends. Lily had already gone off to do her head girl duties, and much to her dismay, James followed suit.

A rather short girl stood with them now; Dorcas Meadows. Small, blonde and smiley were the only words I could use to describe her. She seemed to have no temper, and in all the years I had known her, she had only actually lost it twice. The first time was when she and Lily had a fight in first year, before they were friends. The second time was when some Slytherin was teasing Peter. Either way, she usually just shrugged things off, or dealt with them in a really calm way. But she was pretty tough. Nothing could get past her, and she is as stubborn as a mule.

Yeah, you could say I admire her. A lot. But just because she isn't afraid to be herself, and because she is so certain about things. If Dora says it will be alright, chances are it will be. Or she'll make it alright. She is just like that. Now other than short with a permanent smile on her face, Dora's looks lean more towards the quirky. Not your traditional beautiful, there is something about her that makes her stand out. Some how, I think she looks somewhat like a bunny. I don't know why; honestly. Her eyes are a bit too big, but she is pretty. And I like her… Dora is a realist. Sarcastic and often cynical, she lives with the belief that if something is wrong with reality, she can fix it.

And she is pretty powerful. Trust me. So what's not to admire about her?

"Remus!" She said when she saw me, her smile growing larger. But there was something in her eyes that seemed to contradict the smile. Making a mental note to ask her about it later, I bent down to scoop her up into a hug. I can never stress enough at how amazed I am whenever I hug her; it is like hugging a fairy or some other small creature. Because she _is_ a small creature.

"Morning Dora!" I reply, pulling away from her and smiling. Finally someone who isn't either going to loose their temper or get themselves killed. Not that Peter would, but he was so quiet that it didn't count.

"Guess what, Moony?" As usual, Sirius' voice is filled with almost a warning to anyone who can hear it that trouble is about to come. "You get to do your prefect duties… _with_ Meadows!"

I can pretty much feel my face turn red. But that's fine, because hers has too. "I guess we should probably go to the prefect cabin…" She said softly to me, her smile slipping momentarily before coming back at full force. At least this will give me a chance to find out what was on her mind.

"Yeah, I guess we should."

_A/N_

_Alrighty... So after more than a year, I have decided to come back to the world of fan fiction and write again. It feels a bit clumsy, starting from where I left off (I'm older and wiser now, I hope), so I apologise if it all sounds a bit bad. It will get better! I promise!!_

_That's all for now!_

_:-)_


	5. Welcome to the Monkey House

**CHAPTER SIX**** – Welcome to the Monkey House **

"Can I just do one little thing?" Sirius' voice whined in my ear. Absolutely no patience in this one, I can promise you that. Trust my luck to be stuck in a train compartment with only Sirius and Peter, the latter of which has fallen asleep on one of the benches, leaving the only sitting space to be on the other bench.

See, Lily is head girl and, much to her chagrin, my dear brother is head boy. How he managed to snare that title, I will never know. One of the many mysteries of the world. Then Remus and Dora are both our little prefects. Which is understandable; of all the Gryffindor people, they deserve it the most. But I guess this is also Dumbledore's way of saying 'Haha Jane, the only two of your friends who are either like you or worse are Peter I'm-so-irresponsible Pettigrew and Sirius the-worlds-biggest-trouble-maker Black!' Which pretty much means he has zero confidence in me. Not that I would actually want a position, and Lily and Dora are the best for the jobs, but still.

And I really don't know why I am complaining. But oh well, I can so I will.

"No, Sirius. Don't you do a thing, or I will humiliate you in front of the whole school, and don't think I won't." I answer to his previous question, the one asked before my mind babble.

Now let's see... Me and Sirius are actually pretty good friends. Not best friends, but close. So I don't mind being with him. Especially since he is James' best friend. The only problem? I'm kind of getting sick of how many girls are walking by just to look at him; some looking at him hopefully, and some, like Marlene McKinnon, to glare pure hate at him. Yep, bad breakup there. Sirius has a lot of bad break ups. Girls either hate him, or love him.

But yes, pretty much Sirius is pouting at me, anything to get me to let him pull a prank. Now don't go thinking I had gone soft. No, I have a large plan. And he will not ruin it.

"Alright Sirius, you have, without fail, pulled a prank before the feast every single year now. People _expect_ it." I begin, smirking. "Think about it... Right now they are all paranoid. Waiting. The best prank right now? Let them worry, but don't act. Yet." realisation dawns upon is face. Yep, it's official; I am a genius. I'll sign autographs later.

"Yet?"

"Yet."

"Did I ever tell you how much I love you, Jane?"

"Haha no, you never have."

"Well I love you."

For some reason, even though I know he is joking and that it is entirely platonic, my stomach flops. Weird, I know. I think I might have caught a flu or something. I hope not; it would seriously suck to be sick on the last first day ever.

A few minutes silence followed, me staring out the window and Sirius doing... "Sirius, what in Merlin's name are you doing?" I ask, watching him lean over Peter.

Sirius turned to face me with that face that says I-know-that-you-know-that-I-was-doing-something-I-shouldn't-be-doing-but-I'll-still-try-to-lie-my-way-out-of-it. Yep, I see that face plenty."I was just..." he began, sounding completely intelligent (not really.) "Fine, I thought since I can't pull something on other people I can pull something on Peter."

About to open my mouth to reprimand him since Lily wasn't there to do it for me, the door slammed open and the biggest prat ever to walk Planet Earth entered our compartment. "What's this about you pulling Pettigrew, Black?" Dolohov asked. I seriously hate this guy.

"Get out, you stupid twat. Before I accidentally hurt you." I comment in the nicest way I can. I actually really want to kick his ass. It has become a tradition for me to hurt him every year before we reach Hogwarts. A tradition that I am not really planning on breaking.

"Oh Potter. You don't scare me. You'll hurt me? Well one day, Potter, I will be the one hurting you." he said, but I know he is scared. I haunt him.

I subtly nod to Sirius. "Leave her alone, Dolohov." Sirius' smart remark comes. But it distracts Dolohov for those fatal few seconds. One silent sticking charm, a stinging hex and a timing charm later, I realise that he and Sirius have been having a pretty heated conversation.

"Shut up you blood traitor!" The oh-so eloquent Slytherin shouted. I really don't like him.

"You shut up, you… Pure blood-ist!" Sirius yelled back. Yep, a man definitely not of many words. And suddenly wands are drawn and I can see my perfect plans start to slip away. That cannot happen. Cannot happen at all. I am _way_ too proud of what I have done so far.

"Augamenti!" I shout, my wand aimed right in Antonin Dolohov's face. Definitely the easiest way to get rid of someone. Here is a little advice; nothing works better than fighting fire with water. Not very happy with him at the moment, I swish my wand again. I love swishing. _'Levi corpus'_ I think, thanking James for that one. But then again, what are brothers for, if not for little spells like that?

Up he goes, his wand falling away and a lovely look of shock on his face. "Oh look, you're Slytherin cronies aren't here to back you up!" I never said I was nice. Him hanging there in the air, perfectly defenceless, it is a perfect opportunity. And I never miss opportunities. "I did tell you to leave." I whisper to him before letting him drop. With a huff, and soaking wet, my dear nemesis went off in a temper. It was a truly wonderful sight.

"You do anything?" Sirus asked with a smirk when I closed the door and turned around.

"Of course. Next time he goes to kiss that bitch he is dating? Which should be in about… five minutes..." I grin and sit back down. "Well… that's for me to know, and everyone to find out."

His laughter filled up the compartment, waking up Peter who now had... Rather interesting hair colours...

But I am pretty much _dying_ to see my handy work first hand. Who wouldn't be? And after quite a lot of deliberation… actually, not really; it was a spontaneous decision. My whole life is pretty much a spontaneous decision. So, climbing up onto the seat, I rummage through my bag until find it; the invisibility cloak. Definitely the only thing James and I ever fight over. Good thing we both fit under it, and have since we were five.

"So… you two coming?" I ask, waving the cloak like a flag. Sirius is up and standing before you could blink and Peter is grinning like, well, a fat kid with cake. And then he swiftly began to change. Now, as far as Animagus go, I'm fine with watching most changes. Peter's? Kind of creeps me out. I would never tell him, though. Might hurt his feelings. And while tact isn't high on my to-do list, I can't hurt the poor guy. But yes. I always wonder if he _uses_ his skill. If you get what I mean. Not that I think he is a perv, but still, boy + ability to turn into a small rodent = many, _many _possibilities.

Alright, so now Sirius, with Peter on his shoulder (haha, always sounds funny saying that), and I are now under the invisibility cloak. Watching him get his comeuppance (again) is usually what makes my life complete. Now if you have ever walked through a crowed train sharing an invisibility cloak with a not-very-small guy (which I bet you haven't) you will understand how incredibly hard it is. Especially when you aren't going to use any magic. There is no way I will risk ruining my completely genius idea.

So yes, it is quite a task. Yeah, you try do it in _silence_. Near impossible. Trust me. After somehow avoiding attention from my fellow students, which I swear is solely because Merlin loves me. Or he just hates Dolohov more than he hates me.

Now Dolohov has been having an on-again-off-again relationship with on Melinda Yaxley. I guess she is pretty, but she looks cruel. Yeah, I don't like her either. Pretty sure when in first year, when we were being sorted, she stood on my foot and I pushed her into some Hufflepuff who started to cry. Whoops. But ever since that fateful incident, Yaxley and I have been on opposite sides of the river, so to say. She says one thing, and it is pretty much a given that I whole-heartedly disagree. Even if I know she is right. And visa versa.

So the fact that I can get her _and_ Dolohov with one prank, well it is like killing two birds with one stone. Sans the killing, of course. Because I would never be able to kill another person. Yes, I'm a softie, so sue me.

So, finally we reach the compartment of death. Not really, just the compartment filled with all the Slytherins I hate. In fact, I think that if this part of the train just mysteriously fell off into some alternative universe, then the world would be a much better place. They are evil, I tell you. Evil like whoever it was who decided that Pluto wasn't a planet. Oh wait, I don't know that yet… Never mind.

From what I can see, Dolohov is bitching to Yaxley. Probably about me. And that makes me kind of special. And he should be kissing her in t minus 5, 4, 3,2, and Huston, we have lip contact. Bingo! Which means that in about the time it takes for McGonagall to realise you are late for class, the… vomit-worthy couple will stay. I love the look of panic on their faces as they can't pull apart. And then the dawning realisation at who is responsible (me), and then the look of shock as my stinging hex becomes effective. And no matter how much he pulls away, he is stuck to Miss Yaxley's face.

"You are a genius, I swear, Jane." Sirius whispers down to me, and once again I shudder. I think I'll see if Lily has some anti-flu medication or something.

"Thanks" I whisper back, quite proud of my accomplishment. I need a picture, but somehow I think a camera would be a little too obvious. So I'll have to just keep the memory. And show it to EVERYONE! All for a good cause, though; the downfall of one Antonin Dolohov. The slimy bastard himself.

It is only a matter of seconds before the rest of the Slytherin crew discover the targets of my talents. Watching Rosier and Avery storm out in sear of me makes a bubble of joy erupt in my stomach. Not really, it just reminded me why I have people like Dora and Lily in my life; consequences aren't something I ever think of until they are actually happening. Like now.

"Crap…" I curse under my breath as Sirius and I carefully make our way towards our compartment. Down side? Avery and Rosier have a head start. Plus side? Dolohov was obviously unable to tell them _where_ our compartment was. So with any hope, we can get to it first, throw up a few spells to keep them out and hide under the seats hoping they won't see us. Okay, just kidding about the hiding part; we will probably be taunting them through the window. Because we are… stupid like that and have no self control.

Whoops.

As Merlin would have it, because he (Merlin) hates them more than me, we actually made it to our compartment _just before _they did. Which means we had about… a very little time to slam it closed, stuff the invisibility cloak in my bag and have Peter turn back to a person. Oh, and then try every spell we knew that would protect us from them. See, I am not scared of them, just… they aren't very nice, and I'm not nice back, which is probably why they usually try to get back at me.

Besides, I am not spending my last first night at Hogwarts in the Hospital Wing. No way. My dorm is calling. Alright, so I am over reacting, but where Rosier and Avery were concerned? Well, I'm not game enough to risk it without James there behind her to back me up. I will never admit it, but I am pretty dependant on my brother. I can't help it; he has always been there. I don't know how I would be able to do anything without James there. But I would never tell anyone that.

"Quick act natural!" Sirius whispered loudly, snapping me out of my thoughts.

And apparently act natural meant completely unnatural. But it was fun. Sitting there with our legs crossed, acting like posh old spinsters, I realised something; these two guys, whilst obviously not leadership material, they are good guys. Maybe a little rough around the edges, but they are happy with being them. And for this time in the compartment, it didn't matter that Sirius' family had disowned him, or that Peter had self-confidence issues. Or that I could feel in my gut that we were about to face the most difficult year in our lives so far. All that mattered was that the Slytherins were on the other side of the door and we were together as friends.

It was nice.

Especially since I knew that somewhere on the train, Dolohov and Yaxly were still stuck together.

--

**A/N**

First off, the title is a song by the Dandy Warhols. I love them :-) And I figured it fit.  
But yes, thanks for the reviews and the reads. Muchly appreciated :-)  
Also, I do not own anything JK Rowling wrote. So don't sue me...  
-x-


	6. Hit Rock Bottom

**Chapter Seven**** – Hit Rock Bottom **

_Dora's POV_

I hate trains. Something no one knows about. I hate them. Hate them so much that every time I go to Hogwarts I count the minutes until I can get off it. Because I seriously hate trains. I don't really know _why_ I hate trains, though. For as long as I can remember, I have hated trains. Maybe in my past life I died on a train, or I lived on a train. Or something. But trains are horrible. And they make me nervous. Now see, I am never nervous. And I have been on a train 22 other times. Four times a year of the past six years, except for third year because I spent Christmas at Hogwarts that year. So you would think that I would have gotten used to it. After all, this is the _twenty-third_ time. But no, standing on the Hogwarts express, I have a rather strong urge to throw up.

But my fear and loathing of trains will go with me to the grave. After all, Dorcas Meadows fears _nothing._

Ninety-four minutes left to go.

"You alright, Dora?" Remus' voice came from next to me and my stomach lurches. I used to have a _major_ crush on him in sixth year. But it is gone now. I'm sure. But it would be _way_ easier if he wasn't so nice to me.

"Yeah, I am." I answer, mentally kicking myself for how I sound. _'Yeah, I am'_? Great job, Dora. You sound like a really bright person. So I just tilt my head and smile at him. I like smiling. Smiling at people always makes them happy. And happy people are the best kind of people.

Happy people don't kill people.

Feeling my thoughts move to darker subjects, I quickly pull them away as I follow Remus out of the compartment. Walking down the corridor for our patrol, I can tell he keeps glancing at me, and honestly? I do hope it is because he thinks I'm pretty. But that is just me wanting to be noticed by him as a _girl._

And is there anything wrong with that? I don't think so. Boys notice Jane all the time. Why wouldn't they? She is hot. But she knows she looks good, which is kind of off putting. I'm pretty, I think. But it would be nice for someone to look at me and thing 'wow, she has nice hair.'

Silently laughing at how silly I sound in my head (and rather thankful that Remus cannot hear my thoughts) I jump slightly when he put his hand on my arm and pulled me into an empty compartment. Mind racing, I stare up at him wondering why he had done so. The silly romantic in me is actually hoping that he is about to declare his love to me before pulling me into the most amazing kiss I could ever hope to receive. But, being Remus, I doubt it was for a 'fun time'.

"Dora, you aren't fine. I can tell." He said, his beautiful, deep and expressive honey-brown eyes staring into my blue eyes. Oh great. I sound hopeless, don't I? Excuse me whilst my brain vomits.

Biting my lip, I look away. I can't tell him. I should, but I haven't spoken to anyone about it. And I'm not sure I want to. "No really, I'm… fine."

"I won't push you to tell me, Dora." He says in the way that makes it impossible for me to dislike him. And that says he knows I will tell him. And he is right. "You will tell me when you're ready."

The sincerity in his voice stuck a chord with me, and I can feel tears prick in my eyes. I don't like to cry. "I… oh Merlin…" I begin, as eloquent as ever.

He put his arm around me as we sat down, and usually I would be thrilled to be with him like this. But now? I feel all exposed. I blame the tears. "Over summer… the… Death Eaters came to my house whilst I was out, and…"

I don't know how to finish, but I have a feeling I don't have to. It would take an idiot, or just Jane, to not be able to put two and two together. And Remus is no idiot. "Oh Dora… they didn't…"

Mutely, I nod my head. Hell, Jane didn't even think they were real, and I knew all too well that they were. For the past year I would read the news paper, shaking my head at all the stories, sure that the media was blowing it out of proportion, actually _agreeing_ with Jane. And never once did I think that it would come to my family. You never think that you'll be the one to win something, or the one bad luck will come to. And all I can think about is how much I really hate Voldemort. Actual _hate._ A burning loathing that made me insides freeze up and my blood to pump faster. When I came home and found it… in that state, I swore that I was going to get revenge. But now I don't know how I would. One seventeen year old girl versus witches and wizards way more experienced in magic, way more experienced in _dark_ magic than her? Excellent.

"So where did you…" he began, probably not quite sure what to say to the 'Death Eaters killed me family' story.

"My sister." I answer simply, wiping my eyes on my sleeve. I was so proud of having Lorentia as my sister. She had taken it hard, too, but she had stayed strong. Taking a few breaths, I pulled myself together. It wasn't something I wanted people to know. Sure, they were bound to know, but I wanted to put off their pity as much as I could.

Pity is something I just cannot stand.

And Remus didn't pity me. I could tell. All I felt coming from him was comfort. And for a while, we just sat there. He had always accepted me for who I was, and I truly appreciated it. I know that I can be difficult at times. Apparently, not everyone has a taste for the cynical. But see, I am a realist. I see no point in seeing what isn't there. I can't help it if I am a logic first kind of person. The only thing more annoying than a pessimist? An optimist. Lily is optimistic. I think she understands the realistic part of life, but she seems to prefer to focus on the positive. Weird, I know. Jane? She's a realist. But her reality is entirely of her own making, which kind of defeats the point. Remus? I think he is a realist too, a realist who tries to be optimistic at times, but also seems pessimistic at other times. He is a mystery to me. I love mysteries.

As a whole, Lily, Jane and I are… different. I would say we are probably 'nerds', for lack of a better stereotype. We are, by far, not popular.

I really wanted to be one of the popular girls, once. When I started as a little firsty, I was only friends with Lily. And I really wanted to be popular. That was why I hated Jane so much. Not because she was popular (because she wasn't, and isn't), but because she was so comfortable _not_ being popular that I hated her for it. Oh, and the fact that she thought she was so much better than me also didn't make me her number one fan. Actually, we were a kind of nemesis for first year and second year, and the first half of third year. Lily, of course, was actually friends with her, but only when Jane wasn't causing trouble with the marauders. Jane and I only put aside our differences during the Christmas, when she also had to stay at Hogwarts.

Since then? We argue over everything. We are still rivals, but friendly ones. We disagree on everything, but I know I can count on her. I know she would never betray me, and visa versa. But we aren't popular. And I am happy about that. Actually, if it weren't for her, I am pretty sure Lily and I would be the targets of everyone's ridicule. As it is, no one wants to be on the receiving end of Jane's temper or risk the Marauders disliking them.

See, while the Marauders weren't the most popular guys per se, they did hold some sort of influence over the rest of the school. They are the bad boys, always in trouble. James was the sport playing bad boy most-likely-to-be-detained-in-a-straight-jacket. Sirius was your typical brooding leather-wearing bad boy most-likely-to-be-kicked-out-of-home. Oh wait, that's happened. Peter is just... the boy who seems to notice the small things, which the Marauders then use to their advantage. Remus? Remus is perfect. He is the perfect amount of badness with the perfect amount of responsibility and maturity.

So back to the current moment, though, I am finding it rather hard to believe that _Remus Lupin_ was sitting next to me comforting me. And if I hadn't just lost my parents, I would be the happiest person ever. As it is, I don't think I am capable of any emotion other than anger, hate, fear and sadness. Mostly, though, I am angry. Angry at my self for not being there to help them, angry at Voldemort for being such a wanker, angry at his minions, angry at my parents for not fighting back.

But it was bound to happen. Of course they would target my family. See, my mother was a Malfoy. And a powerful witch. She made one mistake, though. She married a muggle born. Voldemort wanted her in his ranks, but my father was a problem. When it became apparent that Mother wasn't willing to become a Death Eater, let alone kill her own husband, they had her disposed of. Bastards. I hated them all. And one day, they were going to face their consequences. Yep, I want revenge.

Angrily wiping the last remaining tears from my eyes and composing myself, I stand and turn to face Remus. "We should continue with our rounds. We are Prefects, after all."

"You sure you're alright, Dora? Lily and James wouldn't mind if you took a break."

"I'm fine." I snap, immediately regretting it. Taking a breath, I smile at him. "I'll be fine. Besides, I'm a little worried about the havoc Sirius has probably created, to be honest. Some poor first year is probably terrified and dreading spending the next year in the same castle as Black."

He laughed, a deep rumble that made my stomach flutter. "Too true, Dora."

And with that he exited the compartment, holding the door for me. Damn him. He makes it so difficult to _not_ like him. Can you blame me? And I don't need this at the moment. I need… I need everything to just go back to normal. The way it was. When Voldy was just a rumour. When you either liked someone or you didn't. When Santa was real.

But since when will things go to normal for one person? I'm not that stupid.

The rest of our patrol went by without any incident, only polite conversation between us. I can feel the sexual tension between us, but I'm not sure if I am imagining it. Probably just wishful thinking. And I'm supposed to be the logical one.

I cannot express how relieved I was when the train started to slow down. And I wanted off the train as soon as possible. The doors had barely been opened before I barrelled through them. Already I felt lighter as I landed on proper ground, despite the glares from the students I had pushed aside. Whoops.

Stepping aside to the next mode of transport, I wait as I watch Remus, followed by James and Lily, emerge from the train. As though the heavens are welcoming us back to Hogwarts, the skies open up, the shock of the water on my head causing me to smile. However, now I am stuck amongst the multitude of students milling around the carriages, all desperate to get to shelter before they end up _completely_ soaked.

As quickly as it had formed, the crowd of students dispersed as the horseless things moved off towards Hogwarts, and I find myself suddenly being pulled into an enthusiastic hug from my red-haired friend. "Save me from Potter!" she whispers in my ear, her voice filled with irritation, but also excitement.

Laughing a bit, I avoid Remus' concerned gaze and look to the source of Lily's frustration. "Have you seen Peter, Sirius or Jane?" I ask, noting with curiosity a certain group of Slytherins storming off the train, looking positively murderous.

James shook his head, his eyes following mine to Dolohov and his cronies.

Soon, the platform was all but deserted, us being the last people. We were beyond caring about being wet; it wasn't like we could get wetter. Finally, through the rain, we saw a short fat figure, followed by a tall feminine form and a tall masculine form exit the train, their laughter drifting towards us. Shaking her head, Lily stood up from the spot on the floor she had sat on. "Jane! Hurry up, or we'll be late!" She shouted, slipping into mother-hen mode.

From this distance, I can still see Jane roll her eyes, but she listened to Lily. Lily is the kindest person anyone at Hogwarts knows, despite her fiery temper. If she found someone who could cool her temper off, I think she would make the ideal mother. Her kids will be extremely lucky.

Five minutes later found the seven of us sitting in the carriage. Jane and Sirius were gushing about what had happened on the train, with Peter nodding his head enthusiastically with every word they said. James was hanging off their every word, laughing at all the appropriate moments, as was Lily, but she was trying to keep her impression of a reprimanding mother up. Remus was still looking at me with those expressive eyes, concern pretty much oozing off him.

But it wasn't pity, and for that I was grateful. Smiling at him reassuringly, I diverted my eyes to the moving world outside of the carriage. The day's last light sparkled in the rain, which was slowly dying down, making Hogwarts seem even more magical and welcoming. And just being there felt like things would get better, because the darkness I knew lay in the real world couldn't reach us. At least until we left.

**A/N**

Alrighty, so the title of this chapter is a song by the Dandy Warhols. They really are an awesome band. But yes, please read and review, I would love to know where I can improve.

Thank you to everyone who has already reviewed or subscribed!! You guys rock my socks.


	7. Tell Me Where It Hurts

**Tell Me Where it Hurts **

_Lily's POV_

The first day of school started rather early for me. As usual, Jane's bed was empty; her morning routine of waking up before humanly possible to go for a run was something that I had gotten used to years ago. It was Dora's bed that held my attention. For some obscure reason, it too was empty. Now something you need to understand about Dora; she will take any opportunity to sleep that she gets. I would know, considering it is my unspoken of task to wake her up every morning. If ever there was a person who was not a morning person, it's Dora. Me? My only rule is the sun has to be up before I will be.

And I never sleep in.

I actually considered the possibility that I _had_ slept in, which did cause a moment of panic. But, considering that the sun wasn't up yet, that fear was absolved. Which did leave the mystery of why Dora was up. Figuring it would be pointless to go back to sleep, I start my get-ready routine. Shower, uniform on, towel-dry hair, apply chap stick, pin on head girl badge. After six years, I honestly don't care about how I look on a normal school day. These people had seen me at my worst, so what did vanity prove now?

In that short amount of time it took for me to get ready, Dora had still not returned to her messed up bed. Something was up with her, it is obvious. And with the way Remus is acting? I'm willing to bet he is a part of it. But Lily Evans does not bet, so I won't.

Oh wow, I forgot to introduce myself. Lily Evans, Head Girl. Top of most my classes, too. And, best friend to Dorcas Meadows, Jane Potter and Remus Lupin. Pretty much, that's it. Nothing really special about me, other than the fact that I'm smart. Though book smarts don't seem to mean much to people. But that's their problem.

So anyways, I'm sitting on my bed, looking at Dora's as though the answer should be obvious. "You're up early." Jane's voice says as plops down next to me, startling me from my thoughts.

"So is Dora." I answer simply.

She has obviously just showered; her hair has made a wet match on the back of her shirt. But she doesn't seem to care. Jane is a fascinating person; she notices only what she wants, and only if it is obvious. She acts like she doesn't care about how she looks, but she does. And she pretends like she doesn't realise the attention she gets, but I know that it is deliberate. Jane is arrogant, demanding and reckless, but for some obscure reason, she is my friend. That's probably because of her confidence in herself and others, and her passion for what she believes in. A passion that seems to make her, and by default me, plenty of enemies.

She shrugs her shoulders and stands up. "I saw her walking up to Dumbledore's office on my way here. Probably because she is new to life as a prefect or something."

I nod my head. "Probably. Should we wait, or just go to breakfast?"

"Food." Is her simple answer.

Laughing lightly, I follow her out, the mystery of Dora's early rising pretty much forgotten. The walk down to the Great Hall is mostly uneventful; the few students awake glancing fearfully at Jane before scurrying away. I'm assuming this is a result of the suspense involved with Jane's prank. Immature.

Something I will really miss about Hogwarts is the breakfast. I take what I usually have; an orange and poppy seed muffin. No one makes orange and poppy seed muffins like the Hogwarts elves. About to take a bite, something happens that has never happened before; Amos Diggory took a seat opposite me and Jane. _The_ Amos Diggory. As in, Hufflepuff quidditch dream boy. He is nice enough; I've helped him with potions before. But he isn't here for my help.

"Good morning, Jane." He says casually and I roll my eyes. Typical.

"Oh, Diggory. Hi." Jane commented back, oblivious as to his motives. Again, typical. Silently, I watch their interaction.

"You doing anything on Saturday?"

"I'll probably have detention."

"Oh."

"Yep, how about you?"

"Yeah, I have nothing planned."

"Oh."

"Well, if you get out of detention early, maybe we can do something."

"We could. What do you suggest?"

"A picnic?"

"Picnics are nice."

This is painful. It really is. He is obviously being a bit flirty. Jane? Not even picking up on that. In her opinion, he is just being friendly. And it is painful to hear. "Jane," I begin, my eyes darting to Diggory then back to her. "He is trying to ask you on a date."

It is worth the satisfaction of seeing a small blush grace his cheeks. Jane smiles warmly at him, the smile she knows makes most boys weak in the knees. "We could definitely have a picnic. Meet me at one?"

All he can do is nod his head before stumbling back to the Hufflepuff table with a silly grin on his face. It will never cease to amaze me how Jane enjoys the effect she has on people and how she likes to toy with people. Jane is probably the most interesting person i have ever met. Honest. Somehow, she just has an air of importance and power about her. I asked her about it once, and all she said was that she just ignores half the people and pretends that she _is_ better than the rest. Kind of bitchy, if you ask me, But I guess I'm lucky, because if she hadn't decided that she was better than everyone else, then she would be one of the popular girls and therefore not my friend. And Jane makes an excellent friend, because she makes you feel important, and since she likes to think she is better than everyone else, it is like you are more important than everyone else. And who doesn't like that?

But yes. Now she is smiling like an idiot. Of course. "I have a date." Is all she says, grinning at me like a madman.

"A date!" I repeat to her, grinning too. She is such a child at heart, I love it.

"A date!"

"With Amos Diggory!"

"With _the_ Amos Diggory!"

We burst into very girly giggles which stop abruptly at the sight of Dora walking towards us with a very serious look on her face. Following her are the Marauders; Remus looking extremely sombre, James looking concerned, Sirius looking confused and Peter looking baffled. Immediately, Jane and I pulled our act together as the new arrivals sat down. Jane shot James a questioning look and for a few moments they just looked at each other before James looked to Dora, causing Jane to glare at him. Sometimes I wish I had a twin just so we could do that too.

A rather awkward silence followed, everyone looking at Dora expectantly. Finally she opened her mouth to speak.

"Remus said I should probably tell you all... especially before the post comes..." she muttered and as her best friend I got the distinct feeling that she was holding back tears.

She took a deep breath and I had to force myself to not launch across the table to pull her into a comforting hug. Dora glanced nervously at Jane before continuing. "Over summer..." she cleared her throat. "." She gushed in one breath before clamping her mouth closed with an audible click.

All of us seemed to be holding out breaths as we comprehended what Dora said. Death Eaters? They were just words we read on page 3 in the Daily Prophet every other morning. Not anything dangerous, just words and rumours. Now this... well now Jane couldn't deny their existence. Now they weren't fictional characters reserved for horror stories.

I glanced around at everyone again, gaging their reactions. Peter looked like he was going to faint or be sick, whichever came first; Remus just looked sombre, he obviously already knew; Sirius didn't look surprised, but he did look absolutely livid; James was in shock, as though Dora had told him Gravity doesn't actually exist. Jane? Looked positively terrified. Understandable; she had refused to acknowledge the possibility that they were real, and now she was faced with undeniable evidence saying otherwise.

Unable to hold myself back, I launched myself at Dora and pulled her into a hug. I could feel her cry, and I knew how much she hated to cry so I just held on like it was the only thing keeping her alive. Remus soon joined the hug, his eyes full of emotions I didn't recognise. Soon Peter joined us too. James had sat between me and Jane and I could hear his low tones speaking to Jane.

James was an insufferably prat at best, and it usually took all of my willpower to not hex him into next year. But hearing him look after his shell-shocked sister, I felt something akin to respect for him. But I also felt annoyance towards Jane; she had better not be making this all about her. Then I felt guilty because Jane had just been given a rather fat reality check that was probably like a massive slap in the face.

By the time we all separated from our group hug, most of the Great Hall was filled with students talking excitedly about the start of term as though nothing had happened, and I hated them for that. Wiping sympathy tears from my eyes (I'm a sympathy crier), I looked at Jane, who reached across the table and gave Dora's hand a squeeze. The toot of an owl echoed through the hall, and Jane suddenly had a panicked look on her face. Oh Merlin, she has done something. I can tell. The mail arrived and students all grabbed at their Daily Prophets. Front page was the article we were all dreading, and as soon as people read the first paragraph they were looking at Dora like she was the most interesting thing ever to grace Hogwarts with her presence.

Faster than you could say 'Quidditch', Dora was standing with a horrified look on her face. The rest of us followed and were all standing before there was a small flash and with a start the students of Hogwarts realised they were stuck to their chairs. Jane, Sirius and James had a mortified expression on their face. Sucking in a breath, I waited for the reaction I knew would be coming. Dora, with a now hurt expression on her face, was looking at Jane. There was a moments exchange between then, and I knew that although nothing was said vocally, a lot was said. Dora turned on her heel and marched out, followed by Remus.

"POTTER!" McGonagall shrieked as I turned to follow my blonde friend. Jane was screwed.

I knew she hadn't meant to have a prank happen right after Dora had told us what had happened, it was just bad timing. By the look on her face, I knew she was thinking that this must be a rather bazaar dream. Or rather, nightmare. I almost felt sorry for her, but the sticking thing _had_ gotten a bit old and over used.

Exiting the Hall, I had to admit that Jane had unintentionally done something right; at least now the student population's attention had been diverted from the article and to the small fact that they were stuck for an unknown length of time to the benches.

Smiling just a bit, I caught up to Dora and watched as my friend raged about what had just happened. My friend who never loses her temper, who never throws tantrums, who is always collected, cynical and sarcastic instead of frazzled and angry. I knew it was anger at Voldemort, not Jane, that was making her like this. But what she need now was for me to just listen and be there. So that is just what I did.

**A/N**  
First off, title is a song by Garbage. Haha, I kind of love 90's grunge music right now. Oh the memories... haha. But yes, I have tonsillitis right now, and no one at home feels sorry for me :-( I am such a baby it's not funny.  
Pretty sure I have fixed up all the errors in this, but there are probably more and for that I humbly apologise!!  
Thank you to everyone who has reviewed my story!! Even bad reviews make me smile because it means someone has actually read this. Ahh, the joys of being optimistic.  
Also, I apologise if it is painful reading the part where Dora tells them about the death eaters. I know it is bad. It was painful to write. Hell, just those few paragraphs took me a _whole day_ to write. Haha. So I'm sorry.  
x


	8. Ducks Don't Need Satellites

**Ducks Don't Need Satellites **

_**Peter's POV**_

Well, my name is Peter Pettigrew. Just Peter, no middle name. Just Peter. There isn't anything special about my name, and in truth there isn't really anything special about me. And trust me, I wish there was. But either way I look at it, the only special I get is when 'special' is said with quotation marks. Above nearly everything else, I want to be _someone_. I would say that is why I initially became friends with the Marauders. To them, I was just a weird little boy who noticed small things. And that was useful. But to me? They were my gateway to being someone.

Wow, that makes me sound like a complete loser, but I'm not. As a silly little first year, they were just a means to get somewhere, but now? Years later, they are actually my friends. To them, I _am_ someone. And even though I still want to be someone to everyone, I'll take what I can get.

And what I can get? Six friends who may not make my life perfect, but they make it worth living. So watching as one of their lives fall apart makes me wish I knew how to help. Dora is always nice to me. Sure, she is completely sarcastic and bluntly honest, but I like that because I know that she is being genuinely nice. And as her friend, I hate to see her be hurt, especially by something that none of us knew how to help. So I guess that was why Dora was so touchy about Jane's prank. It was kind of thoughtless, but to Jane's defence, she hadn't really known about Dora's news when she had set the prank up.

Standing in the Great Hall, I watched the backs of Remus and Lily as they followed Dora out before turning to look at Jane. She looked ready to cry, but a moment later she turned to look at Professor McGonagall with a cocky grin on her face, a cocky grin that I could tell was forced. "Oh, good morning Professor!" She said as though nothing had happened, and I would have laughed had it not been for the fact that I was a little bit too shocked at the day's events.

"Miss Potter, Mr Potter, Mr Black, do explain yourselves!"

"I don't know what you are talking about, Professor." James answered innocently.

"Yeah, Minnie, what are you talking about?" Sirius added, winking at one of the girls watch the exchange.

Sighing in frustration, Professor McGonagall placed her hands on her hips. "Don't be coy with me, boys. I know you are responsible for this, and I want to know how long it will last."

There was a moment's silence where James and Sirius did their best to look confused before Jane opened her mouth to speak. "Oh, wow. Gee, Professor, we have no idea." She said with her eyes wide.

The older woman pursed her lips, knowing this was battle no one was going to win. "Detention, Saturday. All four of you." She said harshly before turning her back and walking towards Dumbledore, who looked particularly amused. "And ten points from Gryffindor. Each." She added without even turning around.

Our entire table groaned and glared at the trio. By now everyone stuck to their seats were looking furiously at us. Angry at us for not being stuck, angry at us for actually doing at, angry at us for not fixing it, angry at themselves because they had known it was coming. There was a moment of silence before everyone started to shout simultaneously at us. Jane's cocky grin slipped off her face and was replaced with an angry scowl.

At the change of her demeanour, a silence descended upon the students. "For Merlin's sake, just take off your damn pants, you stupid, incompetent twats!" she snapped before turning on her heel and storming out, her hair bouncing behind her. Everyone looked at each other as though waiting for someone to do it first.

I followed James and Sirius out, trying to ignore the stares and glares of the other students. Though to be honest, I kind of liked the attention. We followed Jane through to one of the courtyards where she sat on the wall and looked at us with tears falling down her face. Now I've seen Jane cry a few times, but never like this. See, she's an angry crier. Kind of funny to watch, but I know she hates it. I don't think she has ever cried about something unless it has made her angry, and right now I am willing to bet this is the angriest she has felt in a long time.

James and Sirius sat either side of her, James pulling her into his side as Sirius awkwardly patted her on her back. And I just stood there like a dumb sod who had no idea what to do.

"I-I-I feel so stupid!" Jane sobbed, glaring at the wall behind me. "I didn't mean for it to hurt her! It was just supposed to be a joke. I didn't know that..." From there anything she said was incomprehensible through her constant sobbing. She looked rather terrible. If anyone saw her now, they would not be able to guess she was the pretty Potter they were used to. Her face was all blotchy and her eyes were red and I felt kind of sorry for her.

"Shh." James said into her hair as he pulled her closer, and I felt a stab of envy for the close relationship the siblings had; me and my sister can't even be in the same room without her trying to kill me. She pulled herself away from him and composed herself.

"I didn't think..." Jane began, her hands forming fists. "That the stories were real. Or that Dora's parents..."

It was well known that Jane had thought the media was just exaggerating. This must have been like a slap in her face. We remained silent, not sure what to say to her. After all, Jane was first and foremost a girl, and who knew what would reduce her to a sobbing mess again? And I am willing to bet that James and Sirius were just as relieved as me that the tears had stopped.

"But it makes me think, you know? Like, what is stopping them going after my parents?" She said absentmindedly and James and Sirius exchanged a look over her head. We were all thinking the same thing; Jane was right. Everyone loved Emily and Harold Potter. Well, except for people like Mrs Black and other darker-in-a-moral-sense people like that. I didn't need to worry about my family. It was just my dad and my sister, the former of which would probably do whatever You-Know-Who told him, and the latter of which is a 20-something year old (rather ugly) woman who was probably going to marry one of the Death Eaters anyway.

So really, I was worried about the Potters. Friendly people who I wish were my parents. But we wouldn't let Jane know that we too were worried; it was probably better to let her spin another delusional reality in which none of us were in danger. I sat against the wall and continued to watch my friends. I'm quiet – so sue me. After a few moments of silence, Jane sighed. "Mmm... first detention of the year, boys." She said and I knew that she had shoved the more serious issues into some dark crevice in her mind.

Sirius laughed and nudged her. "Good job, Potter." He said with a smirk and we all laughed. At least she wasn't all crying and tears anymore.

"Yeah... and I'm going on a date after..." she said silently, as though talking to herself. Suddenly there was almost tangible tension in the air. Jane didn't have the best relationship track record. Between her detachment from reality and her penchant for trouble, none of her relationships had actually worked out. Usually it was because she needed everything to be obvious, and people didn't seem to like that trait in a girlfriend.

"With who?" James forced out, looking like he was forcing himself to be calm. Sirius looked at Jane expectantly, an unidentifiably expression on his face. Actually, it might be jealousy, but I've never seen him jealous before, so I don't think so.

"Jane, with who?" Her brother repeated, his hand forming a fist in much the same manner hers had.

"Amos Diggory." She said simply, brushing a curl from her face and looking at James in a silent challenge.

"Diggory?" Sirius mouthed to me and I shrugged; I never knew he had any feelings for her.

"As in Hufflepuff Quidditch captain?" James asked in an angry whisper.

"Yes. As in Hufflepuff Quidditch captain." Jane answered, glaring at her brother.

"He's the enemy, Jane!" James finally yelled, standing up and glaring back at her.

"No, Slytherin would be the enemy, James. Not some Hufflepuff!" she shouted back, standing up too.

"Still the enemy!"

"Your enemy, or mine, James!? You aren't the one going on a date with him, I am!"

"You are my sister, Jane! That means your enemies are my enemies, and visa versa!"

"Oh lay off it, James! That isn't how it works, and you know it!"

"No Jane, that is how it works! And _you_ know it!"

"Just because you can't get Lily, doesn't mean I have to stay single!"

An awkward silence followed and we all knew she had said the wrong thing. Sirius looked ready to go to his best friend's defence, James looked wounded and Jane looked absolutely mortified.

"James, I'm sorry." Jane whispered, her eyes wide.

"No, you're right. I can't get Lily." He said silently, and Jane's eyes somehow went wider.

"James, I didn't mean it. I'm sorry."

"No, Jane. You aren't. You always only think about yourself. Your friend's family dies, and it is the end of _your_ world. Grow up, Jane."

With that, James turned and made his dramatic exit. Sirius hesitated, but followed leaving me with Jane. Jane who looked like she had been slapped, again. She walked over and sat next to me, as though in a trance. "Oh my gosh..." she whispered, looking at her hands. "I'm a terrible person. James is right..."

I opened my mouth to say something, but I figured now wouldn't be the right time for me to mess things up even more. But to be honest, James was more like his sister than he would like to admit; everything was about him, too. Maybe that is where the perfect twins fall down – the world revolves around them.

Still in shock, Jane stood up and walked away. I would have followed her, but I knew where she was going. When the world didn't go their way, the Potters did one thing; they went flying. Somewhere on Hogwarts' grounds, James was on his broom. And somewhere else, a sparrow by the name of Jane would be flying, trying to get away from her troubles.

--

A few days since the whole fiasco, it was Saturday. D-Day. Formally known as Detention Day. And 8.00 am found James, Jane, Sirius and I sitting in our Head of House's office. Since _that_ day, James and Jane hadn't said a word to each other. They hadn't even acknowledged each other's existence. Dora still wasn't talking to Jane. Lily had been trying to be there for Dora, which caused her and Jane to have their first fight in ages, so now they weren't on speaking terms. James glared at Sirius if he so much as looked neutrally in Jane's general direction and between Remus and I, we were trying to mediate. We were hot on the tongues of every gossip in the school, and it was quite stressful for me.

So you can imagine the tension between us as we sat there, the Professor observing us silently. She wasn't stupid; she knew exactly what was happening. And I could tell it pained her to see her favourite students fighting. Eventually, after what seemed like a million years, she spoke. "I can't say I'm surprised that you pulled a prank. And it was a rather... interesting use of magic..." meaning 'I think it was awesome.' "but, you are seventh years now, and should be more mature than that.

For detention, you four will sort out these pages," she gestured to a pile of what appeared to be a couple of books sans the coverings, "into the correct book and page order."

We all groaned. Of all the Merlin-cursed things to do, this? Not only was it tedious, but it also meant being in a very small space with each other, meaning Jane and James had no choice but to associate. McGonagall was obviously secretly sadistic. And, dare I say it, I saw the method in her madness. The sooner everyone was on speaking terms, the better.

An hour later, we were all sitting on the floor sifting through the pile of pages. James had run his fingers through his hair so many times that it looked permanently stuck up and Jane's messy pony-tail was made worse by her own attempts at running her fingers through her hair. They kept glancing at each other, and each time they did the tension got substantially thicker. Sirius looked like he was going to be sick. The room was already stuffy, but the constant needing to tread on eggshells so to say seemed to be particularly challenging for him.

"Oh for Merlin's sake, you two!" He finally burst out loudly, causing the twins to jump and glare at him and then each other. "Jane, so what if you make everything about yourself! We have all know that since the moment we met you, and it is something we have all long accepted. James, she is your sister, for Merlin's sake! You hurt her pride, so of course she'll attack yours too! You two are both so alike it creeps me out. You are both making this all about you, with no regard to how it is affecting the rest of us. Dora needs us all as friends right now, not as a bunch of squabbling brats."

The silence only seemed to grow and it seemed to be trying to suffocate us all. "Two words, James." Sirius said, shaking his head. "Man up!"

Frustrated, Sirius picked up a pile of pages and roughly sorted through him. James looked at Jane sheepishly and Jane looked back at him with a pout. "You are so intolerable." Jane said to him.

A cocky grin suddenly appeared on James' face. "You love me for it." He said and like that, all the tension dissolved and it was like it had never happened. Of course. They were both too proud to want to admit to the rest of us that we were right.

At about 12.30, we were done. Well not really, but McGonagall came in and let us go on the grounds that next time it would be a whole-day detention. Jane all but ran back to the common room, muttering something about smelling like books and needing a shower before meeting Amos, which made James bite his lip; he wasn't about to get into another fight with her.

We all watched her race out of the common room half an hour later, her tight jeans and singlet screaming that she was dressing to impress. It made James cringe, but none of us said anything other than the obligatory 'wow Jane, you look lovely!'

I'm going to be honest again and say we are a sorry bunch; one of us goes on a date and the rest of us sit on our arses watching from the window. But that stopped when a certain blonde entered, followed by a certain head girl and a certain werewolf. "What you looking at?" Dora asked after checking that Jane wasn't there.

James glances at Sirius, who nodded his head, before looking back at Dora. "Jane is on a date." He said, causing everyone to hold their breaths. Jane was a taboo subject around Dora. But was this what we were reduced to? Pathetic sods who metaphorically tiptoed around our friends out of fear of offending them?

I wanted to bang my head into a wall until it was all back to normal. But I had a feeling I would be doing a lot of banging.

"Oh for Merlin's sake!" James said finally. "Dora, I think it is unreasonable for you to still be angry at Jane! It was a damn accident. She didn't know."

Not for the first time, I seriously considered if James was either stupid or a god.

Dora sighed and sat down next to Sirius on the couch. "I know."

"You know?" Lily asked, her arms crossed.

"I just want to be angry, you know? And it is easier to take my anger out on Jane."

"Are you serious?" I asked, as though she had just said she wanted to pursue a career in potato juggling.

"That's not really fair." Lily said softly.

Dora sighed in frustration and chewed on her lip. "Nothing is fair, is it?"

No one really knew how to answer, so we all just looked at something else be it a second year doing their homework or a bug crawling on the table. And then Dora laughed. Like a real laugh, something she hadn't done since we had been back. And she was smiling a real smile again, which was as weird as it was great. "So, tell me about this date Jane is on?"

And just like that, things were kind of normal again. Or as normal as you can get with friends like mine.

**A/N**

Sorry for the wait! University just started, and it is all so new and confusing for me. The amount of times I have gotten lost... :-\ But oh well!!

Here is my new chapter!! The title is the song by _Kate Miller-Heidke_. She has the most AMAZING voice. YouTube her.

Thank you to everyone who read this! And to people who reviewed. It means tons to me. I actually don't like people reading what I write, so I think this is good for me :-P

But yes, until next chapter! Which has already been written and I am now actually going to proof read it...

-x-


	9. Love Drunk

**Love Drunk**

_Jane's POV_

The library. Secretly, I actually _like_ the library. Something about how peaceful it is makes me feel happy. And during classes, the library is extra silent, which is why I love right at this moment. Now, I'm not really good at many things. In fact, I simply suck at _most_ things. But the few things I'm good at? I am _really_ good at. Like Ancient Runes. I'm not exaggerating when I say I am the better at it than every other Hogwarts student. Yeah, I'm modest. NOT. Haha. But yes, I'm good at it. And I love it. I did my Ancient Runes OWLs in fourth year, my NEWTS halfway through sixth year, and now I'm doing correspondence with the European University of Advanced Magic. To be honest, I'm brilliant.

At the moment, I'm studying the use of magic in Runes, which is pretty interesting. So far, though, I've been somewhat unsuccessful with it. Which is a mite frustrating. I have spent one whole damn hour in the library trying to get one to work, but so far? All it has done is singed the book I've been using. Which is quite contrary to how it is supposed to work; last I checked, it was supposed to freeze, not burn. Excellent.

I can just imagine how I look right now; hair poking messily out of my braid, ink smudged on my cheek, and an exhausted flush on my face. It is rather tiring trying to use magic in Runes. Though admittedly, the past five minutes have consisted in my scrawling _'Jane Potter was here'_ onto any piece of paper I can reach, and even scratched into the desk. I'm actually feeling pretty excited, because tonight is the Halloween ball. And I was going to look amazing.

Of course, I have a date. The utterly perfect and irresistible Amos Diggory. I think I really, really like him. But shh, I don't want people to think I've gone soft. But yes, we have been dating for nearly two months. Well, it will be two months in a few days and I am _dying_ to know what he has planned. See, I planned our one month thing; I snuck us out to Hogsmede. It was lovely and he had given me a simple pewter heart on a red ribbon. Red for Gryffindor. And so he was planning our two month.

It really was a lovely relationship. And for once, James wasn't trying to scare him off. Everyone seemed happy when he came to sit with us, but I think Sirius has been letting their quidditch rivalry get in the way because each time he sees Amos… well if looks could kill, I would probably be mourning him by now.

So who can blame me for not being able to concentrate? It was all thanks to Lily and James that we were having a ball, and everyone loves them for it. I have my costume all ready and I can't wait to see Amos' face when he sees me. I want to wow him. I want him to tell me I look beautiful. Sure, he usually tells me that, but this time I want him to truly believe I am the most beautiful person in the world.

I imagine I have quite the silly grin on my face. As I said, I really like him. And we are the perfect couple, if I may say so myself. Like our kids will definitely have won the genetic lottery! Not that I have our whole lives mapped out, but the possibilities are endless.

Flipping my book closed, I decided to rest my head on it for a moment. You know, because it wasn't really doing anything productive other than convert oxygen to carbon dioxide for the trees. I felt myself start to drift off, and I didn't stop myself; if the librarian had a problem with it, she could kiss my oh-so good looking arse. Besides, I was only going to rest my eyes for a minute.

The sound of footsteps entered in my mind, but I was enjoying my nap too much to open my eyes to see who it was. Either way, the person left and I figured if it was important they would have woken me up. Then I heard more footsteps, footsteps belonging to more than one person. Chairs moved and I felt someone poke my face.

"She still alive?" Someone who sounded a bit like Dora asked.

"Well she's drooling, so I assume so." Someone else answered, and I assumed it was James. But then his words registered in my head and I sat up quickly.

My short, minute-long nap had gone on for longer than I had planned; late afternoon sun came through the windows and more dust that I would have liked to see danced in its goldenness. I wiped away my drool and glared at James.

"And she lives!" he said with a cheeky grin.

"Yeah, we were worried when you missed charms." Sirius said.

"I missed charms?"

I groaned and dropped my head onto the table. Great job, Jane. I looked up at James, Sirius and Dora. "What's the time now?"

"4:47 pm." Dora answered promptly. "Though I'm surprised Amos didn't wake you up; I could have sworn I saw him walking towards the library earlier."

Sirius stood up abruptly, causing me to startle. What was eating at him? "I, um, I..." he stuttered before sitting back down.

Ignoring his strange behaviour, I stood up. "Crap, I have an hour to get ready!" I muttered, frantically trying to pull all my stuff together.

"Calm down, Jane." Sirius muttered in a low voice that I have seen reduce girls to blubbering and blushing messes. I am, however, immune to this effect because I have seen him eat breakfast in his boxers with food on his chin. Yep, that pretty much ruins the charm.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" I hissed, stuffing my work into my satchel. "You know how much trouble I'm going to be in! I missed Charms because I _fell asleep in the library._"

"Janey, breathe." James said, taking my satchel from me to put the stuff in neatly. "We'll go up to the common room, then you can shower and get ready; it is fine to be late."

I hate it when he is the calm one. But he is like that. Damn them optimistic calm people! Damn them along with people who don't need coffee in the morning and the people who naturally have great bodies.

"But I haven't written the transfiguration essay! It's due tomorrow..." I whined.

"Do it in the morning." Dora said, clearly getting irritated with me. "It's not like you have ever written an essay before it's due anyway."

Alright, so she is right. Or partly right. I always do my homework before it is due, but essays are... the worst things ever. I can only write them when I am under immense pressure, such as the pressure you get from doing the morning of.

"Fine." I huff, not really wanting to admit Dora is right. We annoy each other, but at the same time I trust her with my life. So long as it is after 9:00 am because Merlin knows she can't even remember her own name before then.

Taking my satchel from James and picking up my Ancient Runes book, I stood up and looked at them expectantly. Probably have a red line on my forehead from it resting on a book, but I don't really care; after tonight no one will even remember that silly red line. I made the mistake of looking at Sirius who was looking back at me intensely, and I couldn't look away. I was suddenly curious about what he was thinking, about his strange behaviour. And most importantly, why he didn't like Amos/mention of Amos in conversation.

"You have..." he said softly, licking his thumb and bringing it to my cheek. "...ink. On your face."

I froze at the touch of his thumb, gently and warm, not sure how to react. But that decision was saved by a loud crash on the other side of the book shelf, followed by the librarian yelling shrilly at some poor kid who had bumped a whole shelf of books onto the ground.

"Quick, before she turns her wrath to us!" James whispered, pulling on my arm.

Laughing as silently as I could, I followed him out, Dora and Sirius behind us. As soon as we were out of ear shot of other students, Dora turned to me excitedly. "Oi! Guess what!"

James groaned. "Shut it, Meadows."

Sirius snickered and Dora smirked. "What?" I asked, curious about what they were pleased about but James wasn't.

"Tonight," Dora began, her voice an exaggerated whisper. "James is going to ask Lily out!"

"For the first time this term!" Sirius added, a look of glee on his face.

"What!" I shouted, turning to James with a grin on my face. I knew for a fact that she wouldn't say no; she admitted as much to Dora and I the other night. _'To tell the truth, I kind of miss James' attention.'_ She had said, much to my delight. Obviously, Dora hadn't told James that or he would be a bit less nervous and a bit more cocky.

"Shut up." He hissed, glaring at me.

"Aww, don't worry big brother. I'm on your side here." I said charmingly back. I have him wrapped around my little finger.

We carried on walking to the common room, Dora chattering about something or another. Thinking more about what Amos would think about my costume, I accidentally put my foot in the trick step, sending my book flying forward. "Shit. Help me out here, would you?" I asked my now laughing friends.

"Do we have to?" James asked teasingly before hoisting me out.

"Shut up, James." I muttered, picking up my book. A piece of paper fell out of the pages, and I frowned.

Picking it up, I wondered at who would have put an envelope with _Jane_ written on the front in my book. Curious, I passed an equally as curious James my book and opened it.

_Jane, _it began. _I'm sorry, but it's over. See you around. Amos._

I felt my stomach drop. Had I really just been dumped in 10 words? 10 fucking words! Who the hell did that! I wanted to be sick. I wanted to scream. I wanted to find him and smack him up. Anger burned in my chest and I felt angry tears burn in my eyes. Why did anger burn?

"What the fuck?" I said coldly, deliberately detaching myself from emotion. Dora snatched the letter from my limp hands, her eyes flashing dangerously as she read it. Now I have seen Dora loose her temper only a couple of times, and I had a feeling I was about to see it now again. But I didn't care. I felt like shit, pardon my French.

"Fuck!" Dora yelled. "Fucking ass-wipe twatty bastard."

Dora likes to curse when she loses it.

"What?" Sirius and James asked at the same time as the latter snatched the letter from Dora.

I just stood there, my eyes as wide as they would go, fighting back tears and the random urge to blow things up.

"Fuck!" James reiterated and I could feel his anger and hate. "I'm going to kill him. I am going fucking kill him."

Sirius seemed to catch on and he went into a rage, fighting against Dora's vice-like grip to storm off and find my now _ex-_boyfriend. "Don't." She warned. "Let Jane get her own back on him first. You know her; she'll want her revenge, don't take that away from her."

Even though they thought I couldn't hear her strained and angry whispering, I felt a surge of appreciation for Dora; we weren't always on the best of terms, but she understood me. She understood that I was going to get my revenge. I love revenge. I was going to serve him his revenge. Serve it to him nice and cold with a side of contempt.

I wasn't pissed off because he had broken up with me – I wasn't naive enough to think we were in love and going to get married – and to be honest that didn't really bother me. It was the fact that he wasn't man enough to do it to my face. The fact that he did it in a tiny letter. Sure, size doesn't matter (usually), but a little bigger wouldn't hurt. Well it would still hurt, but at least I would have a reason. Bastard doing it in a letter. What if I hadn't have found the letter? Then what? I would go to this dance thinking he was still my boyfriend. Oh, that would be embarrassing.

I felt the pewter heart around my neck and felt my resolve melt away as the floodgates opened. Why the fuck would he do this to me! No reason? Bastard. Fuck him. I fumbled with the tie on the necklace and let it drop to the floor. Not wanting to be seen cry, I marched to the window, dumped my satchel on the floor and focused on changing my physical being. Opening my eyes, the world was much, _much_ bigger. I opened my wings and launched out of the window, revelling in the feeling of the moment, the way the air felt against my face and the feel of the wind under my wings.

When I first found out my animagus form was a sparrow, I was kind of put out. A sparrow? Small useless bird? I wished it was something badass like a big eagle or something. But now I love it. So inconspicuous and I think it kind of suits me. The only thing is, I'm have no concept of time, especially when I'm just a little bird. So when I flew past my dormitory window and saw Dora and Lily pacing up and down, I knew that I had probably _no _time to get ready.

Flying in and changing simultaneously, I smiled at Dora and Lily's shocked but relieved faces, which soon turned into pity.

"Oh darling!" Lily gushed, pulling me into a hug. "I am so, so extremely sorry."

Rolling my eyes, I pulled away from her. "Don't be, Lily. He should be. Ten words? Merlin, what if I hadn't dropped the book and found the letter?"

Dora laughed. "Well either way, if you are still going you have half an hour to get ready. So move your stupid Potter arse and get into a shower!"

"Yes sir!" I said, marching myself to the bathroom.

Standing under the gushing hot water, I had a chance to think. I wasn't going to let him get to me. No way. He has just lost any further chance of dating me. Loser. And tonight, I was still going to wow him. Only this time, he couldn't have me. I was going to be a cold ice queen; composed and regal. I was going to make him feel like dirt not even worth of the underside of my shoes.

Smirking, I finished off in the shower and got dressed as quickly as I could. On with the shoes, a little bit of foundation, heavy eye make-up and strawberry chapstick. And then the hair. Wand out, I spent the next ten minutes making my hair lovely. Finished, I looked in the full length mirror and smirked. Yes, I was going to knock him off his feet.

Because I wasn't just Jane Potter anymore; I was a Greek Goddess. Beautiful and wrathful. Amos Diggory, eat your heart out.

**A/N**

So sorry that it has been ages since I have updated. Getting used to university is a right pain in the proverbial. Good news is I'm passing! Haha, but yes. The way Jane was dumped was taken from the way I was dumped, so it rocked to write. Title is a song by Boys Like Girls. Thought it suited Jane very much in this chapter/the next chapter. Here are the lyrics:

_Top down in the summer sun_

_The day we met was like a hit and run_

_And I still taste it on my tongue_

_The sky was burning up like fireworks_

_You made me want you, oh, so bad it hurt_

_But girl, in case you haven't heard_

_I used to be love drunk, but now I'm hungover_

_I love you forever, forever is over_

_We used to kiss all night, now it's just a bar fight_

_So don't call me crying, say hello then goodbye_

_There's just one thing would make me say_

_I used to be love drunk, but now I'm hungover_

_I love you forever, but now it's over_

_Hot sweat and blurry eyes_

_We're spinning on a roller coaster ride_

_The world stuck in black and white_

_You drove me crazy every time we touched_

_Now I'm so broken that I can't get up_

_Oh girl, you make me such a lush_

_I used to be love drunk, but now I'm hungover_

_I love you forever, forever is over_

_We used to kiss all night, now it's just a bar fight_

_So don't call me crying, say hello then goodbye_

_There's just one thing would make me say_

_I used to be love drunk, but now I'm hungover_

_I love you forever, but now it's over_

_All the time I wasted on you_

_All the bullshit you put me through_

_I'm checking into rehab 'cause everything that we had_

_Didn't mean a thing to you_

_I used to be love drunk, but now I'm hungover_

_I love you forever, but now I'm sober_

_I used to be love drunk, but now I'm hungover_

_I love you forever, forever is over_

_We used to kiss all night, now it's just a bar fight_

_So don't call me crying, say hello then goodbye_

_There's just one thing would make me say_

_I used to be love drunk, but now I'm hungover_

_I love you forever, but now it's over_

_Now it's over, I still taste it on my tongue_

_Now it's over_


	10. Sick Little Games

**Sick Little Games**

"_**Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same..." –The Fray**_

_Sirius' POV_

To be completely honest, I had no idea how I felt. I hated Amos Diggory. Always had. I knew I was the dark, hansom and brooding guy at Hogwarts, and he was the jock with the constant sleezy smile and his neatly styled hair. In the natural order of things, we are enemies. Of course. Which would explain why the fact that him and Jane had been together really pissed me off. First off, she was in _my_ group. Not his group of giggly-girls with their lip gloss and their big hair. Sure, I had dated some of them, but I was the 'bad boy'; I could do what I want, date who I want. Diggory? He couldn't. He was preppy and perfect with his Stepford-life who would one day get himself a trophy wife in a house with a white picket fence, 2 kids and a dog.

So of course he couldn't date Jane. She would never go for that. And I would know that. She would want her independence, she would want an odd looking house with tall old brick walls covered in ivy and a messy garden full of wild flowers and rusted watering cans. Jane would want a pet goat or something like that, and secret passages and a bundle of kids to keep the place busy. So you see, it is obvious (to me) that her and Diggory are not meant to be.

But I hated him for more than that reason. Jane was growing on me. She had always been James' sarcastic sister who thought she was better than everyone else. But since that day over Summer when she helped me with my wounds, she was someone different. Someone who had a Gryffindor heart and would help anyone. Who was happy to be herself and didn't care about what people thought. It took me a while to figure it out, and I'm still not sure, but I think I might like her. As in like-like her. And it only dawned on me when I identified the emotion I felt towards Diggory; jealousy.

For the first time in my life, I was jealous of someone else. And of all people, him. The way Jane would look at him and blush. The way she would smile whenever someone said his name. The way she wore that stupid pewter heart around her neck. It made me hate him and envy him. And I spent nearly two months wishing she would dump his pathetic arse.

And now that they had broken up, I felt a new emotion; guilt.

The look on her face when she read that letter will stay with me until the day I die. It tore me apart inside and I wanted to do anything to bring her smile back. I wanted him to die for making her feel anything but loved and happy. I wanted to kill him. No exaggeration there; I seriously wanted him dead. Because how could he do that to her? A letter? For Merlin's sake, even _I_ wouldn't do that. Ever. And I'm not exactly a super nice and thoughtful guy. But at least I have the balls to do it to their faces. And give a reason.

I have never seen James so pissed off either. If it weren't for Jane's penchant for revenge, I'm pretty sure James would have beaten him to death. And he would definitely have deserved it.

I looked at myself in the mirror and used some hair product to tame the fly-aways. I had to look good, after all I _was_ going as Dorian Gray. _The_ Dorian Gray. I'm related to him on my mother's side, and well, just the whole idea of my family is scary enough for Halloween. But I must say, I do look dashing. The whole open poetic shirt thing I'm wearing will definitely make a majority of the Hogwarts residents swoon.

Confident about how I look, I walk down to the common room, completely lost in my own thoughts. I already know how James, Peter and Remus are dressed; Peter Pan, astronaut and ghost respectively. Yep, I will _way_ be the best looking out of us all. Haha. James in tights? It is just too funny to think.

Peter and Remus were already down in the common room, whispering about something. Probably about the whole Jane thing. But they stopped when I sat down with them. We sat in silence until James came down, looking very, _very_ nervous. "Do I look alright?" He asked as though he was choking. "Do you think Lily will laugh at me?"

Remus chuckled. "You look fine, Prongs. She'll love it."

"Yep." Peter agreed with a grin on his face. "She may laugh, but at least you'll have her attention?"

James looked at him for a moment, as though not sure where he had come from, before turning to me. "Not a word, Padfoot. Not. A. Word."

Smirking, I shake my head. I've already teased him mercilessly about it.

We sat in silence for a bit, waiting for the girls. I'm kind of expecting Jane to come down with red puffy eyes in her PJs saying she is not going, but I also know she would never let him know that he got to her. She likes to be the strong one.

Eventually, the door opened and Dora pranced down the stairs in a ballerina costume. "Good evening!" She chimed, giving us each a hug. She amazes me. I know she cries every day, but she still faces everyone with a welcoming smile and sparking eyes. "You guys all look awesome!"

"Thanks Dora, you too." Remus muttered and I smirked. Oh yes, I can see where this is heading. She beamed at him before turning to face the stairs.

There was a clanging sound, a crash and I feared the worst. But that soon went away when Jane and... Lily came down the stairs. Jane was quite seriously the most amazing person I had ever seen. If it turned out she was some Greek Goddess, I would not at all seem surprised. It was quite the daring Grecian dress; it was obvious that all her working out paid off. But I'm not sure James is impressed with his sister looking like _that_. It wasn't like she was dressed like a tramp, not at all, in fact, it was rather classy.

Lily, on the other hand, was dressed rather... interestingly. No wonder James liked her; she is probably the only girl I know who would actually dress in a suit of armour. Yes, you read that right. A suit of armour. As in a knight. As in it is the funniest thing I have ever seen. A piece of red hair was sticking out under the helmet and her green eyes stood out quite a bit, so it was definitely Lily.

"Oh. My. Golly. Goodness." James said, staring at Lily. I don't think he has seen his sister yet. "You're my knight in shining armour!"

This is the part where I groan. Good job James, pretty sure you just _ruined_ your chances. But no, Lily just laughed. "Apparently I am." Was all she said, but it was enough to make James go into a trance.

I took the opportunity to greet Jane. "You look lovely."

"Thanks, so do you." She whispered for no apparent reason, but it made my stomach drop.

"You alright?" I asked, looking into her eyes. I could tell she had been crying, but I could also see pure determination and a coldness that made me shiver. But for a moment it went away and I saw the hurt.

"I'll be fine." She said sharply, taking a deep breath. "I'll be okay."

I smiled comfortingly at her, and it was at the point where I was about to say something epically nice that James seemed to notice his sister. "Jane!" He shouted.

Everyone seemed to hold their breath, waiting for him to rage about how she looked. "You—" he began, before smiling. "are going to make him feel like the idiot he is."

Jane smirked. "Oh, I know."

Sure that there was no drama at the moment, we all smiled. It didn't matter that a certain Amos Diggory had hurt our dear friend; tonight was going to be a good night. I could feel it in my bones.

We walked down to the Great Hall as a group. Mostly; Dora was trailing after Remus, who seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. Peter and Lily were having a rather in-depth conversation about... well probably something nerdy. James was holding Jane's arm in his brotherly way, telling stories of some of the stuff we had done – sure, she already knew the stories, but it was nice of him to put in his two cents worth. Me? I just followed behind them, winking at the occasional girl and being my normal brooding self.

Finally reaching the Great Hall, I had to admit that James and Lily really had done an amazing job of the place. It had that haunted feel, with the candles and spider webs hovering and trays of little snacks floating around the room. I quite liked the dim lighting, and the fact that I looked _way_ better than all the other guys in the room. Except for that kid in the bunny costume; he wins hands down. There were enough fairies though. And the princesses? Well they certainly outnumbered everything else.

Feeling like an idiot just standing there, I started conversation with a girl dressed as a cat. I figured she was a 6th year, and with the way she was giggling, I'm putting my money on Hufflepuff. The good thing? She was happy to just keep chatting to me, gushing about whatever girls gush about.

She wasn't bad looking, well, with the mask. But my mind was stuck on the Greek Goddess. Everyone seemed to glance at her every so often, as though their eyes were automatically drawn to her. But that is just the sort of person she is; Jane loves attention, and she somehow makes everyone else feel insignificant. Not me, of course. _Nothing _could make me feel insignificant.

A sudden silence, however, pulled me out of my thoughts, and I looked at the girl who was now staring where everyone else was staring; at superman (so what if I like comics) and Greek Goddess staring each other off. Pretty sure you could cut the tension with those scissors they give little kids that don't actually work.

"Hi Jane." Amos (superman) said.

"Oh, you." She replied nonchalantly.

Even if I wasn't on Team Jane, I would definitely agree that she was making him look very small. He looked like a little boy. No one seemed to know what was happening, because well, no one really knew about the letter.

"I have no problem that you broke up with me." Jane said smoothly, brushing a stray curl from her eyes. "The problem I have, Diggory, is the _way_ you broke up with me."

I could tell people were itching to whisper to each other. But would they dare miss a second of the scene developing right in front of them? No way. It was far too amusing seeing a fuming Greek Goddess stare down a flustered superman who opened his mouth and closed it a few times like a fish.

"A letter?" She hissed, sparks all but flying from her eyes. "Ten words in a letter? Now tell me, Diggory? Was it ten words because you lack a sufficient vocabulary to give a reason, or was it ten words because more than that is beyond your brain capacity?"

Jane was definitely making a scene deliberately. She loved the attention, and publicly humiliating him was probably just step 1 in her master plan of revenge. Before he got a chance to respond, she smirked and carried on. "Actually, was it a letter because you aren't man enough to do it to my face?" Diggory was fast getting angry, and it was only making Jane carry on. "Are you a man, Amos?"

The crowd watching laughed and Jane sneered at him. "I don't think you are. You're a coward. No wonder you were never sorted into Gryffindor. Too stupid for Ravenclaw, in fact, too daft for Slytherin."

"Shut up." He forced through clenched teeth.

"Shut up?" Jane asked angrily, her hands forming fists. "You want me to _shut up_? Why? So that the next girl you date will be clueless about the letter you'll leave her? One day, Diggory, some girly isn't going to find that letter, and you'll be screwed."

He started to say something that only Jane could hear, but was cut short when her fist connected with his face. And just like that everyone was cheering. I will never understand that; girls always seem to stick by each other when they break up with someone (I would know), even if it is just for twenty minutes.

She turned around and eyed everyone with an icy glare before striding out of the Great Hall. Giving one last glare at Diggory, who was swearing with his hand held up to his eye, I followed her out.

Turning down an easily looked over corridor, I found Jane sitting on an old chair staring at the wall. "Jane?" I said softly, kneeling down next to her.

"Yeah?" She said, and in the dim light I could see tears running down her face. Damn it, she must be pretty angry.

"Nice show, love. Look into doing that for a career, okay?" I said, making her laugh a bit. Or laugh-sob, if that makes sense.

"I feel like an idiot." She whispered, let her head fall against the wall. "I want to scream and pull at his hair and curse him and hex him and feed him to the giant squid."

I didn't know what to say, so I just stood up awkwardly and pulled her into a hug. I half expected her to pull away, but she just stayed there, sobbing. Soon the sobs turned to jerky breathing, and that soon turned to just heavey, even breaths. And then she pulled away and looked at me, with her big, wet hazel eyes and her eye make-up running down her face. She brushed some of my hair from my face, still staring at me. And then she kissed me. Just moved in for it and kissed me.

Part of me wanted to stay like that forever; kissing Jane Potter. But another part of me reminded me that it meant nothing to her. It was just because she couldn't get this from Amos, so she was getting it from me. Darn it.

And so I made the hardest decision I have made in ages; I stopped kissing her and pulled away. Deliberately not looking at her face – I didn't want to see the disappointment and rejection I knew I would see – I stood up. "Not like this, Jane." I said firmly. "I'm not your rebound guy."

Jane say there, her head hung low so I couldn't see her face, and said nothing.

"You should go clean yourself up. Make him see what he is missing." I whispered, not comfortable seeing this side of her. This desperate, hurt and disappointed side. So I kissed her forehead, turned around and walked away.

And let me tell you, that was difficult. Jane was such a spirited person, and it killed me to walk away. "Don't leave me." I heard her whisper in a small voice that broke my heart, but I ignored it. She would thank me later.

I hope.

I re-entered the Great Hall, and everything seemed to have gone back to normal. Kind of. I had obviously missed _something_; Dora and Remus were dancing. As in dancing _together._ To some ridiculously slow dance. It was so weird to see; he towered over the little blonde. But she seemed happy, so that was good. Actually, she looked like Christmas had come early.

Shaking my head, I sat down with Peter, James and Lily. "Who've you been kissing?" Lily asked at the same time as James asked "Have you seen Jane?"

"She went to freshen up." I said to James. "And I have no bloody idea." I answered Lily. And it was true. That was not the Jane I knew. I had no idea who that was.

They all laughed at me and I shook my head. They must never find out; James would assume I took advantage of his little sister, Lily freak out and Peter... well he would probably figure it out anyway.

There was a comfortable silence, broken when James turned to Lily. "Lily, I know that I am wearing tights right now, and that you think I am an arrogant prat. But look at this!" he said, gesturing to the room. "This is our baby! Together we make things awesome!

So really Lily, will you be my other half? My knight in shining armour?" He took a deep breath. "My girlfriend?"

No one breathed. We got kind of used to his asking Lily out thing, but he hadn't for ages. And no one seemed to know how Lily would react. But she hadn't seemed to have reacted. She just stared at him through the hole in her helmet whilst poor James started to turn purple from lack of oxygen.

"He is turning purple, Lil." Peter whispered.

Her eyes closed then opened again, and I took the lack of response as a good sign. "Yeah sure." She said, lifting the helmet.

James sighed and his face went back to its normal colour. Five – four – three – two... hah, and James has just registered what her answer was. "YES!" he shouted, jumping up and nearly knocking her over with a hug. "I promise I will be the best boyfriend ever. I promise promise promise!"

He took a few breaths to calm himself down, and took an opportunity to sneer at Snivelius. "I must tell Jane." He muttered, still grinning like an idiot. He stood up, half stumbling, and skipped out the room. Sometimes I actually do wonder if he is homosexual. You know, the tights, the skipping, the hair product he uses to give his hair the defy-gravity look, the way he had his nails painted that one time, and how he kissed that one guy... yeah, you get the picture. But nay! Apparently he is straight... funny that.

The rest of the night went alright. No one saw Diggory, who apparently had a rather nasty looking black eye already. Jane made her presence know and made everyone else's self esteem plummet. Dora and Remus danced and danced and danced. But no, they aren't dating; I asked him. They just 'felt like dancing.' Hah. He just didn't want to enter something where he would be keeping a massive secret. And me and Peter? We held a competition to see who could make the most girls blush. Surprisingly, he won. And I have no idea how.

**A/N**

Howdy Ya'll! I'ma going to be more frequent with my uploading new chapters as of now. I have finished writing this story, so now I'll just update when I remember. Also, the title is a song by All Time Low.

-x-


	11. Here We Go Again

**Here** **We** **Go** **Again**

_Dora's POV_

.

The weeks passed on from Halloween. Jane's thirst for revenge seemed to disappear with the arrival of the first snow, but for some reason there was a tension between her and Sirius. I think he might have done something, or found something out, because when the two of them are together? It is like the temperature has dropped down a few degrees. Creepy.

On a brighter note, Lily and James' relationship seems to be blooming. Who would have thought she would ever like him? Actually, who would have thought Remus would like me! Neither of us want an actual relationship right now. Me? Because in light of the current state of my affairs, I don't really want to have anyone too close to me. Besides, I need to focus my attentions on getting through this. Remus? He isn't ready to let me in. He has too many secrets he wants to keep under covers, so to say. And I'm not going to push him.

I'm not quite sure _what_ we are. Friends? More than friends? Why is there no relationship name for where you act like boyfriend and girlfriend, but aren't? Partners? Well whatever. That is what we are. The in-betweeners. In between romance and friendship.

Complicated.

But I do like him. But I can wait. We have the rest of our lives, right?

Oh well.

It was a Hogsmede day, and Jane seemed to be in a particularly un-sunny mood. She spent the morning fuming, pulling clothes out of drawers, swearing, then shoving them back. After half an hour of waiting, Lily and I had decided to place bets on what she would pull out next. "Black turtle neck jumper." I whispered.

"Nah, she stopped looking at black four skirts ago. Those blue jeans she got last month." Lily whispered back.

She pulled out a yellow cardigan and swore. Kicking a few things around her, Jane crawled under her bed and came out with a bundle of clothes. Five minutes later she was wearing a pair of tight fit grey-blue jeans, snow boots, a black v neck shirt and a thin red jacket that obviously had a heat charm. Rolling our eyes, Lily and I stood up and headed to the door. Lily looked... cosy. Dark blue corduroys and a deep purple coat that made her look like she had never been cosier. I am so envious of how she really doesn't care how she looks. Not that she looks bad, but I would never be able to dress like that. I was wearing inch-thick stockings with a teal dress and a white fitted coat. I think I looked nice.

But I was over how I looked by the time Jane was ready to go. She was seriously having a bad day, and this was what we had to look forward to for the next however many hours we would be in Hogsmede for.

Sighing, we met the boys in the common room, where that had already gotten bored and started a cushion war that first years and second years who were not permitted to go to Hogsmede had taken over. After an hour of complete awkwardness between Jane and Sirius, and indeed, Jane and everyone, we were in Hogsmede.

"These jeans suck. I should have gone with the blue ones." Jane muttered, partially buttoning up her jacket. Lily smirked at me knowingly.

Darn, she was right.

Laughing it away, I linked my arm with Jane's. "Sweetie, you know you look great." I said happily. "Your butt looks amazing."

She laughed and shook her head. "So, it feels like I'm going to pop out of them any second. I think they shrank."

Awkwardly I nodded. Of course they shrank. Because heaven forbid her arse had grown. Which it hadn't, but I seriously did not need her to even consider _that._

Though to be honest, she must be having a fat day. I hate fat days. No wonder she was so snappy. Over breakfast I seriously feared for Sirius' life when he said one small thing wrong.

The seven of us stood there for a while, looking at the over excited students who were all rushing to get into the warmer shops. Snow lay everywhere, deep enough that I was concerned that professor Flitwick would never be found if he decided to take a walk through the village.

My eyes fell on a familiar figure and I felt my stomach plummet.

"...I still need to buy a few more gifts for Chirstmas." Lily was saying as I looked at Sirius, who had the same shocked look on his face as I imagine I did. I nodded and he looked at the others.

"Get down, now!" He said in a don't-argue-with-me tone.

Noticing the seriousness in his voice and on his face, the others – minus Jane – ducked behind a bench that looked more like a large mound of snow. He had already tugged Jane to the other side of the path and behind tree. Yes, a tree. Remind me to give those two a speaking to about subtlety. Honestly? A tree?

"What is it?" Lily asked, her cheery disposition now grave and sombre.

"That man is a known Death Eater." I said in a small voice, a part of me wanting to jump out and kill him with my bare hands. I remember him clearly. He came to my house one night and told my parents to join. I had spoken to Sirius about it, and turns out the man is a close friend of his mother's. And I knew the shit was about to hit the fan.

Jane was motioning to James, who seemed to understand what she wanted him to do. "Remus and Peter," He said, taking authority. "Get the younger years out of here and alert the authorities. Lily –"

Lily interrupted him. "No, I'm staying here. If one of you gets hit, you'll need me."

Her eyes were full of a determination unrivalled by anything I had ever seen, and no way he would argue. "Fine." He said. "Jane and Sirius are going to create a distraction, we need to immobilise them as soon as we can."

I nodded and pulled out my wand. This was stupid. Jane couldn't use magic to fight. It was a well known fact. Fists and she is alright. Magic? She panics and all she can think of are silly little first year spells and hexes she used in pranks. So pretty harmless stuff. At least she had Sirius there. Sirius was good at fighting with magic; just look at his school record for proof. More complicated spells that took deep thought, and he seemed to lose patience too easily. Hopefully they could put aside whatever had been between them now. I counted; 8 Death Eaters. Shit.

I watched as Jane aimed her wand at the snow by one of the Death Eater's feet. It blew up, sending him flying back and thick white snow into the air, forming enough cover for Remus and Peter to run off to evacuate Hogsmede.

Suddenly, bright flashes of spells were flying in different directions, some from Sirius and Jane, some from the Death Eaters, and some from James, Lily and I. There was a loud cracking sound and the tree Jane and Sirius were behind toppled to the ground, sending up the chilly snow. I heard Jane swear, even from where I was, so at least I knew she was alright. Adrenaline was pumping through my blood, and when the air cleared, I could only see five Death Eaters. "Fuck..." I whispered, looking around for the other three.

Dodging a sickly yellow beam of magic, I manically threw whatever charm, hex, curse, spell or jinx that came to mind. Lily was charming snow balls to attack two of the Death Eaters, who were now occupied with defending themselves from the snow. I have never seen Lily look this imposing. Honestly. She was pissed off, I could tell. Her snow balls became more like balls of solid ice. James had a look of determination as he also began to look for the other Death Eaters.

By now the adrenaline coursing through my veins had my heart beating so fast I was sure I was going to die simply from that. Blood was rushing around like it had a race to win, and all I could hear was what I once thought was the sound of the ocean. I was hyper aware of what was happening. Magic tingled in the air, tingled on my skin and fizzled down my arm and through my wand. I love magic. But I needed to find the missing Death Eater. "The most dangerous enemy is the enemy you cannot see" our crazy second year defence against the dark arts teacher had said. And well, she was right. Complete nuts, but right.

A red light hit Lily and she collapsed. James automatically went to un-stupefy her and I turned my attention to the two Death Eaters who she had been attacking. The other three were having a biff with Jane and Sirius, so I didn't need to worry about them.

Now I know this may sound like bragging, but I am really good at duelling. Like, no one ever beats me. And I kinda give a bit of credit to my short stature and lovely blond hair. Who would think that _I_ could do anything? Well I could. And I wanted to kick some Death Eater arse.

Standing from behind the bench-come-mound-of-snow, I started to throw the best curses and charms in my repertoire at them, at the same time deflecting what they threw at me. These were the people who killed my parents. I knew what they were capable of. And I knew I was in way over my head. I deflected another curse and sent one of my own. "Refund please." I said through gritted teeth.

From where I was standing, I could hear Sirius and Jane bickering about something whilst they stood back to back against the Death Eaters. James was suddenly next to me and he took aim at one of Jane's opponents and stupefied him. "Lily is okay?" I asked, relieved when James joined me against the two I had been trying desperately to get.

"I'm fine." Lily answered for me, her eyes wide and looking behind us.

I glanced back and BINGO! Found the three missing ones.

"Hello kiddies." One of them sneered.

"Think you have the ability to best us?" the second one, who was short and fat (haha), said with a lisp and a very blocked nose.

"Well now that I have heard you speak, yes." I heard myself say. Shit, that was smart.

His face transformed to a bright red and I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood. The two that I had been fighting were suddenly behind us, their wands poking into James and my back. "Silly, filthy children." The third said, his eyes so cold they made me shiver.

I made eye contact with Lily. We were thinking the same thing; five adult wizards against three seventh years? So not even odds. We were doomed. Doomed like a penguin on a volcano about to explode. Poor penguin.

Poor us.

"Look, how about you let us go and we won't be any more trouble?" Lily said, lying through her teeth.

"Yeah?" The fat one said again, his voice making me snort.

"Yeah." James said, his eyes glancing at Lily in worry. "Or just let the girls go. Please."

I rolled my eyes. Jane would have my guts if I let her brother go into some Death Eater thing. Besides, Lily was the most diplomatic person I knew. She could solve this. "Potter, shut up." I hissed.

"Ooooh, Mister Potter?" the first one said, his eyes with a dangerous glint and I instantly regretted revealing James' identity. Death Eaters already wanted the Potters on his side, and holding their son hostage would certainly give You-Know-Who leverage.

A snow ball then hit him in the face and we all turned to see Jane with her wand raised, a Death Eater at her feet with her face bloodied, whilst Sirius battled with another one. He must have said something, because Jane turned, her dark hair flipping around. The Death Eater Sirius had been duelling with was on the ground and crawling towards an object on the ground. Simultaneously, Sirius and Jane both leaped forward, reaching the object at the same time as the Death Eater. In a flash, the three of them were gone.

"JANE!" James shouted, forgetting the situation we were in. He lunged forward to get to where she had stood a second ago, only to have a Death Eater's knee connect with his stomach. He doubled over on the ground as Lily screamed and the Death Eater began to kick him around.

Sickened by the display of brutal violence, I threw my head back into the face of the Death Eater behind me (who thankfully was only a couple inches taller than me) and threw a curse at the one opposite me. He instantly began to turn purple as he clawed at his neck, unable to breath. Not even shocked at what I had done, I turned on the other two. Lily petrified the one whose nose I had probably broken before trying to attack the wizard who had turned James into a bleeding mess.

The one I had hit with the curse had collapsed, causing the two Death Eaters I was fighting with to up their material. Two curses hit me at once, one for sure was a crucio and I felt more pain than I thought possible. There was nothing else but the pain. Minutes, hours, no _days_ seemed to pass before it stopped. I opened my eyes, lying next to vomit and a foul taste in my mouth. Someone was laughing, someone was screaming. And I was throwing up.

My face was wet with tears, and numb from the cold freezing them. I vomited again and tried to stand up. I was shaking so much I couldn't even see straight. Lily was sitting next to me, sobbing with James' head in her lap.

"See? You can't beat us." I heard someone say. I vomited again. The stomach was empty now. So empty I felt sure that it would just collapse. Hands roughly hoisted me up, and surprise, my stomach wasn't empty! I vomited again. This time all over who ever had picked me up. Abruptly I was dropped onto the snow along with a bunch of words of disgust.

I was lifted again, and I threw up even more. My throat burned from all of the acid, and the taste made me feel even worse. Everything went blurry and then I was dropped again, this time onto a cold stone floor. Pain shot up through my shoulder.

Vomiting again, I opened my eyes then closed them again. Darkness was better than what I saw. I was locked up. Cold stone, nearly no light, bars.

Fuck. This was by far the _worst_ Hogsmede trip _ever._ Even worse than in third year when I spent a whole trip to Hogsmede with my skirt tucked in my undies.

I heard metal grating on stone and felt someone touch my hair gently. I opened my eyes and saw Lily. Then vomited again. But this time, my stomach really was empty. Just bile came up. Ewww. "Lily?" I gasped, not sure if I was hallucinating.

"It is okay, Dora." She whispered. Tears were running down her face and I sat up, retching again. James was leaning against her, his face bloodied and puffy.

"They have us, don't they?" I said, shaking uncontrollable.

James grinned. "No Dora, we redecorated the Common Room."

I smiled back at his weak attempt at humour before retching.

"They hit you with a curse, Dora." Lily said, crying. "I can fix it, but I don't have my wand."

I have never seen her look so defeated. She looked so small. Her fiery hair wildly stuck out everywhere, and the front parts were plastered to her forehead from the melted snow. It made me terrified to see what I looked like.

I retched again and Lily's crying got heavier.

"You have to help her!" She shouted out of the bars. It echoed. The only answer we got was her echo. It sounded mocking and made it feel so much more desolate.

The shit had well and truly hit the fan.

**A/N**

See? Regular updates. Even though I really should be studying for my exams... Oh well. The title is a song by Angus and Julia Stone. Such an amazingly pretty song. Oh well, have fun reading and shizz!

-x-


	12. A Line in the Sand

**A Line in the Sand**

_Lily PoV_

I don't like to hate. I have never been a hater. And here, I am, hating. I hate seeing Dora looking like, well, shit. I hate seeing James' blood everywhere. And it scares the hell out of me. I hate who did this.

I am not a fighter. I can fight, but naturally I find it abhorrent.

And yet, here I am, the most capable of the three of us. This is just bloody fricking brilliant.

I feel like crap.

And I have no idea how to help Dora without a wand. She looks fragile. Her skin a sickly pale with her blond hair hanging limply and life-less and her tiny frame shivering as she retches once again. "Dora?" I whisper as gently as I could, leaning down to her. "Can you feel any other pain?"

Her head shook. "Just my throat." Her voice sounded like sand paper, and was devoid of any lively happiness that it usually bubbled with.

I sighed. At least that meant that the curse had only affected her stomach. I read somewhere that in some people it affects other surrounding organs and can do permanent damage.

I turned my attention to James, who was doing his best to comfort Dora. Blood was caked on his face and his eyes were filled with worry, pain and determination. Gently, I placed my hands on his chest, trying to suss out any damage. It was what I was good at. I want to be a healer, and well, I think I might be a natural. But I was worried about internal bleeding. He had been kicked about quite a bit.

"I'm fine." He said, jerking at my touch. "Just a couple broken ribs."

I have him the look. I know it is bad, but each time I do it, he folds. His eyes softened and he put a hand on my shoulder. "Are you alright? Are you hurt? Did you get hit at all?"

I closed my eyes. Other than doing something to my ankle – which had now swollen quite a bit but was supported by my boot – I hadn't been hit by anything bad. Dora had taken care of that. She stopped that one wizard's breathing. And it actually freaked me out. If he was dead... wow.

"I'm fine. Nothing but a couple of scratches."

Dora retched violently again. "She needs help!" I shouted through the bars.

Surely they still had some human compassion left, right?

Distant footsteps echoed through. They got louder and louder until a cruel looking woman who shoot tall and thin – like a skeleton – approached with a sour look on her face.

"What?" She asked harshly, with a voice that had probably once sounded velvety, but now held the sound of a compulsive smoker.

"She. Needs. Help." I reiterated. "One of your incompetent chums hit her with a curse that is doing nothing but make her sound bulimic."

The women scoffed before taking out a wand that was just like her – cold, long and thin. How a wand could look cold, I don't know. But I shivered knowing what sort of spells and curses that had been done with it. There was a bright flash of light and Dora collapsed.

"What the HELL did you do!" James roared, lunging to the bars.

"James!" I half-shouted. "That is the counter-curse. Behave yourself!"

He calmed instantly and his face – under the blood – turned crimson.

"Thank you." I said, looking into the woman's stony eyes. Gray stone. No emotion.

She half smiled and tilted her head before gliding off. I wanted to know who she was. As soon as I got away from this place, I was going to find out.

Dora stirred and I knelt down next to her.

"Did I dream that?" She asked hoarsely.

I sighed, the situation really sinking in. We were locked up in a cell in Merlin-knows-where by Death Eaters who attacked Hogwarts and we had no wands. Frick.

"I wish, Dora. I wish." James answered for me.

"Where are Jane and Sirius?" She asked, sitting up with her eyes wide.

I looked at James, who looked ready to burst into tears. Not a very good look for him.

"We don't know." I answered quickly. "I think they went by portkey to wherever that Death Eater they were fighting went."

James' face went still, as though his mind was completely elsewhere. "They are fine." He said, actually believing it. How he knew that, I didn't know. And I didn't care. As long as they were in a better situation than us.

Not that being in a better situation would be hard. The only thing that could make this worse was if... well I have no clue.

"We need to get out." James said suddenly, breaking the heavy silence.

"Great observation." Dora commented, her sarcasm not as strong as it would have been. "But considering that neither of us have a wand... I'm betting on us _not_ escaping."

"Yeah, well Dora we don't have any other options, do we? Unless you are quite content just sitting here, rotting away whilst you wait for NOTHING." He answered back scathingly.

"Shut up both of you." I intervened as Dora opened her mouth to retort. "Yes, we need to get out of here. How? I have no clue."

"Wandless magic." Dora whispers. "Maybe we can each work on one spell wandlessly so we can get out."

"Sorry, but some of us aren't professionals at not using a wand." James answered, rolling his eyes.

"James, we all know you are an animagus." She stated.

I smiled. "Yes, actually. James, of the three of us, you are the professional."

His mouth opened and closed a few times. "How – oh. Jane."

He shook his head. "Alright. So Dora. Work on maybe something that will blast stuff? And Lily – maybe a useful charm?"

"James, this won't work." I commented softly.

"No, it has to work!" he answered, once again, on the verge of tears.

"It won't." Dora whispered. "There are too many of them for us, especially if we have a couple of wandless spells we only just learned. "

James sat slumped on the floor dejectedly. "But we can't be here." He said, and I am pretty sure he was crying. "It smells like mildew and vomit – no offence Dora – and we are needed out there. To stop this."

I sighed and sat next to him and pulled him into a hug. I hated seeing him like this. "I know, my love. I know" I breathed.

Footsteps sounded again down the hall. This time less graceful and more like rocks being hit with a hammer. A lump formed in my throat and I pulled James closer. Dora's face hardened and she stood up, ready to face whatever it was. Even though she looked like a slight breeze would knock her down.

A large man arrived, flanked by a small weedy guy who made my stomach churn with disgust. The big guy was really big. Like probably 100% muscle. I swear, if a train hit him, the train would be in ruins and he would be like "what?"

The skinny guy tapped the bars with his wand and muttered something. An opening appeared and I stood up, squeezing James' hand. "Move." Big said in a voice that rumbled.

Wordlessly, we moved and followed Skinny, Big following us. I have never been so shit-scared in my life. Honest.

"Darn darn darn darn darn." Dora was muttering under her breath, loud enough for only James and I to hear.

We walked for a bit, my ankle threatening to give out, and each time I glanced at Dora, she looked worse. Seriously. Right now, she looked like the living death. Her skin was white. Like, paper white. And her eyes were bloodshot from vomiting. I felt so terrible for her.

Eventually we reached a large room, dimly lit with people in masks lining the walls. In the centre of the room stood a man decked out in all black. My stomach dropped and I could hear my heart beating in my ears. He-Who-Must-Be-Named. Holy fricking muffin.

Just kidding, it was someone very familiar to me. Dora's dear cousin Lucius Malfoy. At least there was no way he could recognise her. She looked nothing like she normally did. And, from what Dora has said, last time she saw him was at the start of first year.

"James Potter, Malfoy." Skinny wheezed and I tightened my grip on his hand.

"Potter..." Malfoy sneered said. "Do you want to join us, _Potter._"

James swallowed hard, squeezing my hand just as tightly as I was squeezing his. "Not particularly, sir."

If anything, the silence grew even more silent. He laughed again. "What about your friends? Or are they mudbloods? Are they filthy?"

My heart stopped. I am going to die.

"Oh please." Dora said, shocking everyone. "Is this a recruiting thing? Because then I suggest posters. Apparently they work best."

"Defiant." He said. "Two out of three. Lucky last." _He _looked at me and I felt my Gryffindor pride kick in. Who was he to make me feel inferior? Oh right, really powerful wizard who was the right hand man to the all powerful dark wizard. Oh well.

"Not convinced." I said simply. Cowardly, I did not want them to know my blood status. But I also knew that as soon as I had my wand, I would let them know loud and proud that I am a 'mudblood'.

"Very well." He commented, nodding his head to Big and Skinny. "You'll be asked again tomorrow. After that, either you join us... or disposed of."

"Actually," I interrupted. "I don't think I want my side of the war to be yours too. I know where I stand, and it certainly isn't here."

"I agree." Dora spat.

The wizard looked pissed off. Maybe that hadn't been the wisest thing to do... but there was a metaphorical line on the ground, and I don't want to anywhere near his side is. I have my standards.

"You have your uses..." Malfoy smirked. "After that... well then you will make an excellent example."

I was shaking. And trying very hard to hide it. I really don't like this guy, but thank gosh You-Know-Who wasn't here. I would seriously just die from sheer fear.

I know, Gryffindors are supposed to be brave. And I am brave. Just... not in such a positively helpless situation.

I sighed as the three of us were herded out. _Nobody can make you feel inferior but yourself. Nobody can make you feel inferior but yourself. _I repeated Eleanor Roosevelt's words in my head, still gripping James' hands with a super tight grip. Each step sent a shock wave of pain through my ankle, but I refused to give in and limp. I refused to let these... inbred monsters see that they are better than me. Because they aren't.

We arrived at the cell again, and despair set in even more. Locked up. Like fricking animals. FYI, I am not an animal. The bars sealed again and we were left alone. I could hear a distant dripping, making me realise how thirsty I was, and in turn, how hungry I was. I looked at Dora, who had made herself comfortable – or as comfortable as you could get locked up where ever we were – against the wall and was drifting off to sleep.

James pulled me into a hug. The weight of how helpless we all were suddenly hit me harder and tears streamed down my face as I leaned further into James. At least he was here. With him, even in such a terrible situation, I felt safe.

"Jane is here." He finally whispered, staring out of the bars. "She'll get us."

I hoped so.

**A/N**

Sorry it is short, I just felt the need to separate the next few chapters to make it flow better. I'll be updating in the next couple of days – unless something super bad happens like I break a leg or break the computer – so don't worry

Thanks for reading, and the title is a song by Houston Calls.

-x-


	13. Ungodly Hour

**Ungodly Hour**

_Jane's POV_

I suck at fighting. Honest to gosh. I really do. Alright, I suck at fighting with _magic_. Magic I am good at is complicated things that take ages to do, like runes or charms or old stuff. And prank things. I am absolutely terrible at using offensive and defensive magic _at the same time_. Seriously.

So thank Merlin Sirius is absolutely brilliant at fighting with magic.

But I am not going to acknowledge it. Because he is a terrible friend. When I needed him, when I asked him to stay, he left. He left me crying in some obscure passage way. In hindsight, maybe kissing him was the wrong thing to do. But at least he could have just sat with me. Instead of humiliating me. Instead of snubbing me. No one humiliates, snubs or says no to Jane Potter. No one. Ever. And that is final.

Stupid Sirius Black.

He made me feel all these weird things that confused me so much. I mean, I don't _like_ him. Honest. Sure, he looks so dark and handsome and brooding and is really loyal and caring, but that is common knowledge. Everyone knows that.

I do _not_ have any sort of positive emotion for him. At. All.

But anyways. We had managed to get one Death Eater down. And I'm taking credit for it. Seriously. I was the one who ran at him and physically beat him to the ground. I am a strong person. Like, muscular. He stood no chance against my fists. Unfortunately, he had managed to land a few on me, so my lip stung and was swollen a bit, and probably bleeding, but that only made me more pissed off. So all the anger I felt towards him, towards Sirius, towards fricking Voldemort, I took out on the stupid wizard. Eventually he stopped moving, after a few solid blows with my elbow.

I stood up and turned to the other Death Eater. Who was much better at magic than the other guy. And I had no chance to get closer to him.

"That was classy." Sirius said through clenched teeth as he threw curse after curse at the Death Eater.

I have him a cold glare before turning to see how James was doing. My heart stopped when I saw them grossly out numbered. Magically, I made a snowball – that was admittedly more like a large chunk of ice – and threw it at one of the Death Eaters. Now see, I am an awesome chaser. Not only does flying come naturally to me, but my aim is dead on and my throwing arm is super. So I watched the man go down.

"He wants that book, it must be important!" Sirius shouted. I spun around and saw the wizard reaching for it. Sirius frantically threw himself at it and I jumped. It all seemed to be happening at half-speed. My fingers touched it and I looked up into the Death Eater's face as he held it too, Sirius' hand landed on mine and I looked at him. Then there was a flash and we were falling.

A fucking portkey. Thanks Sirius.

We landed in an office with all sorts of funny looking... things everywhere. Like mirrors that showed you what was happening elsewhere. Sirius had landed on a table – trust him – and rolled over unmoving. Oh that is brilliant. Just go ahead and knock yourself out when I need you the most.

Yes, I know it isn't his fault, but I am noticing a pattern.

The Death Eater stood a few feet from me with a malicious grin on his face. "Well well well..." he began and I snorted.

Yes, I'm so lady like.

"That doesn't make you sound all evil and powerful, you know." I sneered.

He launched at me and got his hand around my neck and my back against the wall. "What. Now?" he sneered back.

I gasped, battling for oxygen. I turned my head to the side, knowing that at least that way I could still breathe enough not to die. I clawed at his arm, my nails drawing blood. And then I kicked. My knee connected with his man-hood and he dropped like a hot potato. "Yeah?" I said, coughing slightly. "What. Now. Bitch?"

Alright, so now I'm feeling pretty badass.

"Jane!" Sirius called, and I looked at him. Sleeping beauty has finally decided to grace us with his presence? How thoughtful. He struggled to his feet and rushed towards me. "Wait! We can get information out of him."

Oh yeah. Information. See, this is why I would definitely NOT ever be a good auror. I think: demobilise, beat until unconscious, get a milkshake. Aurors are supposed to get information then put them in Azkaban.

"I was planning that all along." I remarked, pulling up the in-pain Death Eater.

"Alright. What's the deal with all this shit?" I asked, dropping him back on the ground. What? He was heavy. You hold up some guy like that.

"Jane..." Sirius said, sounding pretty irritated.

"What? I want to go and help James, Lily and Dora!" I replied impatiently. "Or have you forgotten that we left them there in the snow against a bunch of bad guys? Oh right, it was your idea to grab the PORTKEY!"

"I had no idea it was a portkey!" He shouted back. I had no idea I had started to talk louder and louder.

"Oh yeah, because no Dark Lord is complete without his own personal copy of _Introduction to Baking_."

"I. Thought. It. Was. Important."

"Yes, well obviously it wasn't or we wouldn't be here. For all we know they could all be dead by now!"

What I said hit me and I felt my stomach knot up. They could be. This was a very serious matter. Darn.

"I can't lose James." I whispered.

Sirius' arms engulfed me and I took a few breaths. I needed to calm myself. To think clearly.

I pulled away from Sirius and looked down at the Death Eater, who had started to get up. Before I could do anything, Sirius had him up by the collar of his robes and shoved him against the table.

"Alright." He said, pissed off. And it actually scared me. His eyes were the gray of sky during a storm. Dangerous. "Answers. Are you a Death Eater?"

The wizard spat and Sirius tightened his grip, causing the man to go purple. "Yes." The bastard gasped, glaring at us. His wand lay on the floor, and with a smirk I bent down to pick it up.

"What were you doing in Hogsmede?" Sirius asked, his voice deep and dangerous.

"He wanted examples. To make everyone take us seriously." The Death Eater said, his eyes following me as I twirled his wand.

"Aren't you scared he will kill you for telling us this?" I asked, astounded at his stupidity.

"No." The man smirked. I followed his eyes to a mirror thing. "We already have some."

In the mirror was a scene of three people in a dungeon cell sort of thing. Three people. Two girls, one boy. A blonde girl vomiting on the ground, a read head girl next to her, and a black haired boy next to her, covered in blood and in obvious pain. "No..." I heard myself say.

That was James. And Lily and Dora. They had them. As _examples._

"Fucking bastard!" Sirius said, planning his fist into the face of the Death Eater before throwing him onto the floor.

In anger, I snapped his wand and threw it in his face. "Wrong examples, twatface."

Frustrated, I grabbed a quill from the desk and wrote a note. "Dear Mr. Voldemort." I read out loud as I wrote. "This Death Eater sucks. Suggest getting better followers. Thanks, Jane Potter."

"And Sirius Black." Sirius added with a cocky grin.

"Now you have fun." I said, using a permanent sticking charm on the note an the man's forehead before sticking him to the ceiling with one of my brilliantly strong sticking charm, that no one seemed to know how to fix. Not even me. "Now you have plenty of time to think about your life choices and which decisions you have made to get you into this situation."

Sirius laughed cruelly before blasting the magical mirrors in the room. Glass was flying everywhere, and calmly I deflected it from Sirius and myself.

Finally, once the room looked positively trashed, Sirius and I made our way to the door.

"Right, so Jane, you understand that this is Death Eater territory?" Sirius asked, his hand on the door handle.

"Yes. So sneaking is a good idea." I answered sombrely. "But how do we find them?"

Sirius grinned. "You always find James on the full moon or when you go flying, right?"

"Yes..." I replied, no quite getting what he meant for me to do. "And?"

"Fly. Use your little sparrow-senses—"

"They aren't sparrow senses."

"Fine. Just do whatever you normally do and find them. I'll follow you."

"No. I want to be a bit more subtle than that. Wait here, I'll come back and find you."

He nodded his head and I stupefied the Death Eater. I do not need _anyone_ to know about my illegal activities. Approaching the window, I felt a hand grip my arm and I was pulled back. Turing as I moved, I came face to face with Sirius .Our faces were a mere three inches apart and, circumstances ignored, I felt nervous butterflies swirl in my stomach.

"Be careful, Jane." He whispered in a way that made my butterflies get more frantic.

"I will be." I determinedly whispered back at him. He did not need to know about the affect he was having on me.

"I'm serious, Jane. These aren't just silly Slytherins. This is the real world." He paused, the silence pressing down on me like a vice. "I don't—I don't want anything to happen to you."

I honestly had no idea how to respond. "Nothing will happen to me. I can do this."

"I don't doubt that." Sirius answered back with a wry grin.

"See you later then." I forced out, increasing the space between us until I was at the window again. I needed to focus. On the task, not my brother's bestfriend.

Changing into a sparrow, I flew out of the window and did a few circles in the air. I didn't want to tell Sirius that I could always find James. I had no idea how; I just could. But it was easier if I was a sparrow. Sparrows don't have to worry about getting through small spaces.

I observed where I was.

It was an old house. Like I mean, seriously old. The sort of house that would seriously have been in a family for hundreds and hundreds of years. Some parts, I think, would even be older than Hogwarts. No joke.

It was surrounded by forest. Wait, walls then a forest.

I flew down to the bottom of the house. James was down there. I could feel it. I went around the back of the house and found the kitchen window. They are always open, for some reason. So in I went. It didn't smell like a kitchen. Kitchens are supposed to smell like food. This one probably hadn't been used in years. Well, as a kitchen. Cauldrons lay everywhere. It was a potions lab. Duh.

And just my freaking luck a feather drifted down and landed in a bubbling thing on the table. Instantly it seemed to solidify. Whoops...

I exited the kitchen and went down I few passages, down some stairs and found them. They were being led somewhere by some scrawny looking creepy guy – let's call him Creep – and some big oafy looking guy. With neck muscles that made me just stare in awe. Holy fricking muffin toast.

But yes, James looked up and saw me perching on a random holder on the wall and his eyes locked with mine. He knew it was me. Of course he would. From him I felt fear and pain. Probably broken ribs. And a headache. And he was hungry. I wanted to smile. Of course he would be hungry.

Dora looked like crap. Seriously. I have seen ghosts look more colourful than her. Lily looked... pissed off. Like someone had told her she wasn't allowed to eat the muffin she wanted. I am not surprised. They were lead into a dungeon looking thing and I flew off to find Sirius.

Determining my way by following the views in the windows, I found my way to a deserted corridor with only two doors. Looking around carefully, I changed back to my normal self and walked to the door I was sure Sirius was behind. Slowly, I turned the handle and paused. If I just waltzed in there, he would blow my head off without thinking.

"Sirius!" I hissed, preparing to flee if I was at the wrong door.

The door swung open, and it was certainly Sirius. His face was set with determination. "No one noticed you?"

"No one. They are having a meeting at the moment."

"Good. Lead the way."

Silently, I lead him the way I had come up. Now I am a super silent walker. Even in heels, I rock. Sirius... wasn't bad, but considering the circumstances, it was seriously not the best thing.

I gripped my wand like my life depended on it. And it did; we bump into the enemy, we are toast. And trust me; these jeans do not look good on toast.

It seemed quiet enough. Though to be honest, it does seem like the sort of place Death Eaters would only go to for meetings, holding captives or as a safe house if one of them got found out. So I am not surprised that we managed to sneak down to the dungeon without getting caught. Sure, we had to set off an alarm in a different section of the house to ensure our discretion, but that is beside the point.

"Jane!" I heard James call as we approached the cell.

"James!" I couldn't help myself. As soon as I could, I was by the bars, trying to hug him. "Can't leave you alone for 10 minutes, can I?"

"Sirius and Jane!" Lily said, standing up and crawling to the bundle against the wall that was Dora. "They hit her with a crucio and a curse that made her throw up for ages."

Sirius' face darkened. A crucio? That shit is so not okay. "How can we get you out?" I asked, pulling on the bars as though that would snap them.

"_Patefacio Sursum_." Dora hoarsely said. "That is what they said."

James smiled. "At least one of us was listening, and for once it wasn't Lily."

Lily glared at him. "I was a little preoccupied with my two friends being in a less than healthy state. In fact, why didn't _you_ listen."

"Alright, lover's spat can wait until we are out of here." Sirius said. "Jane, do the honours."

Why in Merlin's soggy underpants would they think that I – of all the accomplished wizards and witches here – should do this? Oh right. Sirius would probably kill someone and no one else has a wand... darn. So I guess I have no choice to be the hero of the day.

Shut up. I can be the hero in my own head. Let me bask in the glory of what I have done today. And that excludes the mess that awaits in my dormitory from my mornings indecision.

So I take out my wand. My beautiful wand. Seriously, I love it. Wands complete the witch or wizard, some more than others. And without magic in my life, without my wand... well it is just too terrible to think of.

"_Patefacio Sursum_." I whisper, tapping my wand on to the bars.

Nothing.

So I try again. "_Patefacio Sursum_."

Nothing again.

Holy fricking muffin toast this is embarrassing. And frustrating.

"_Patefacio Sursum _damnit!" I hiss harshly at it.

And this time, _something._ The bars dissolved into nothing and pride swelled up in my chest. What? Three times lucky, right? Apparently so. In a heartbeat, James was in front of me, crushing the air out of my lungs. "I was so worried about you, Janey!"

"I was worried about you too, James. Seriously, getting locked up _here?_"

"Don't you ever just disappear like that again!"

"You are the one in a cage."

"Shut up. I'm just glad to see you."

"Me too. You had me pretty worried, big brother."

"Jane, you don't realise it, but we – meaning you and me – are in deep deep deep shit."

"Yeah?"

"I'll explain later."

We began to prepare to leave, Sirius heading towards Dora and James and I began to walk.

"Wait!" Lily commanded, stopping. "They took our wands."

As if on cue, the sound of footsteps – like metal tapping on stone – reached our ears. I held my wand, stepping in front of my unarmed friends and brother. A tall gaunt women came into view, and I felt as though my stomach had turned to ice. Her mere presence was enough to make me really want to get out of here.

"Mrs Malfoy?" Sirius asked, his voice filled with shock. So this was Lucius Malfoy's mother? Dora's grandmother? No wonder she looks so dangerous. But from what Sirius and Dora had said about her... she was just a loyal wife, with no other loyalty to anyone else.

He lowered his wand, and I followed suit. "Your wands." She said in a voice that sounded rough. She held out a skeletal hand, with three wands in her grasp. Lily gracefully took them.

"I had no idea who you were, Mrs Malfoy." Lily said, her voice filled with awe. "Thank you."

"I trust," Mrs Malfoy began. "That my name shall not be mentioned when this is over?"

"You have our word." Dora answered firmly. "But that does not make us allies."

"I never said it did." The old woman said, the look in her eyes instantly reminding me of Dora. Yep. Definitely related. With that, she disappeared into the darkness.

Sirius hoisted Dora up, letting her use him as an aide to walk. And I felt suddenly... angry at the blond girl. For no reason. And I hate myself for it. Poor Dora has been through so much. But I still didn't like her having to lean on Sirius. But another part of me wanted nothing more than to make everyone better. James was so bloodied I wanted to kick the arse of the Death Eater who did it. Lily looked like hell. Seriously like hell. I do _not_ want to piss her off right now. And Dora... well I'm sure I've seen ghosts look more lively than she does right now.

Pushing such stupid thoughts away, I focused on remembering the way out. The others silently followed me. I feel like a mother duck with my little ducklings.

We made it out alright. And by out, I mean through the Kitchen and into a quaint little courtyard. And then a butt ton of Death Eaters popped out of nowhere.

"Leaving?" Some creepy-arse tall guy asked in that really creepy way that makes you want to run away.

"Um yes. Thank you for your _kind_ hospitality, but we have a curfew." I said without thinking, my wand tightly held in my hand.

"I don't believe we have been acquainted yet." Another voice said, this time coming from a solidly built woman.

"Jane Potter. It's not a pleasure."

"Apparition point is just on the other side of the wall." Lily whispered, loud enough for only us to hear. "That is how we got here. If you can, go to Hogsmede. Authorities should be there."

"Enough." A voice with authority said, his eyes so black and cold they made me shiver. "Our master will be here."

Sure enough, a loud popping noise filled the air, and I am pretty sure the temperature dropped a couple degrees. I'm not even kidding. And woe and behold, the ugliest man I have seen in my life. Apparently that is what dark magic can do to you. And to be honest, that mere fact is enough to deter me from ever even considering dark magic. Not that I would anyway.

"Hello... children." The scary wizard said. I could pretty much feel the magic seeping from him. And it chilled me to the core.

"Hi. You're Voldemort?" Sirius ventured to say, causing Lily to squeak.

"Yes. And you have a choice to make." Mr. Voldemort said. His S's sounded drawn out. It was freaky. "Which side of the war are you on."

No one dared move or speak. Was that it? Picking a side? Easy. The other side of the wall so I can apparate the hell away from here.

"Either you join me... or you become an example for the rest of the world." Mr V. continued. Honestly, he could speak a little faster. But it does suit that some all powerful wizard would speak slowly. It means he can control when you hear what he says. I should try that some time.

"I will _never_ join you and your barbaric idiots." I hear Dora spit out from where she stood. Wow. She has guts. I really admire her. Definitely a Gryffindor; brave, courageous, stupidly going into things... yep. That is us.

"We already made it quite clear where we stand, sir." Lily said confidently, the way she speaks to teachers when she knows she is right and they are wrong. Which is often, mind you.

"Me too. I'm definitely on the other side." Sirius smoothly said, his eyes glancing at the people who he obviously knew through his mother.

"Yep. Don't you have enough cronies?" James added in. I could tell he was afraid, but no one else could ever guess it.

"Mister Potter, I presume?" Mr Voldemort asked, ignoring the fact that his invitations had been declined. "And this is your sister. Who hasn't yet made her choice."

I almost snorted. Honestly. Do I _look_ like I want to join him? I just magically glued one of his henchmen to the ceiling. "Why would I want to join _you?_" I asked, elongating all my words to sound snobby.

It really works. No way anyone would argue with me when I speak like that. Probably because it would take ages.

"I have chosen my side. And it is right where I can take you down." I carried on, before anyone could speak.

"Cover me." I whispered to James before spinning around and sending blasting spells towards the wall.

And the proverbial hit the fan again. Spells were being sent back and forth. No, I lie, A few select Death Eaters were sending spells to us, whilst we defended ourselves. On the plus side, the way to the apparition point was clear. "James!" I shouted to my twin, using my head to gesture to the broken wall.

We both turned our attention to it and using our itinerary of basic spells mixed with ones we had grown accustom to through our years of pranking, we moved to in between us and the Death Eaters. "James, go apparate with the others. I'll follow." I whispered.

He nodded his head, and in a hurry ran to the apparition point, where Sirius had just apparated off with Dora, followed by Lily. James looked over his shoulder and grinned at me as he approached the point. The barrier we created was destroyed and I knew he wouldn't make it. So in a moment of pure stupidity, I spun around and used _augumenti_ to create another barrier of water. I heard James' pop and sighed. He was away. There was no way I could get here. Death Eaters had gone around the other way and had blocked me from getting there.

A moment of panic seized me, and then left leaving me cool, calm and collected. My mind was crystal clear. I ducked onto the ground, luckily dodging a curse as I did so, and crudely drew a couple Runes in the sand with my wand. Jumping away from the spot and towards the house, I aimed with my wand and whispered an incantation from the Old Magicks I had been studying in Ancient Runes. The ground I had drawn them on blew up in a fiery, sandy and smoky mess.

Taking the opportunity, I changed into a sparrow again and flew up and over the house, leaving the disarray behind me. I flew. As fast as I could.

I felt free. Totally free. After being in that sort of situation, being this free was pure euphoria. I had no idea how far I had to fly until I could apparate, and for that instance, I had no idea where I was or which direction I _should_ be going in. The plume of smoke from the house was visible in the distance, and I gently landed in amongst some trees. Changing into my normal self, everything caught up to me and I started to shake violently. Now, if you have ever started to shake uncontrollably, you would know how down-right scary it is.

I took a few breaths, and still shaking, I apparated to Hogsmede and landed just outside of it.

The small village was bustling with frantic activity. Aurors were rushing about the place, checking everywhere for Merlin knows what. A large group of people had congregated in one area, reporters being held back by law enforcement people.

I started my way towards them, my exhaustion from flying a long distance plus all the magic I had been using earlier made the walk seem like it went for miles. My legs started to give out and I felt strong arms catch me. "It is alright Jane, I have you."

Everything went black.

**A/N**

Alright, so I made this chapter longer because it didn't feel right splitting it, and to make up for the shorter last two chapters. Hope it was alright! Title is a song by the Fray.

-x-


	14. Love Like Rockets

**Love Like Rockets**

_Remus POV_

In the seven years I have been at Hogwarts, I have been in the Hospital Wing more times than I can count. The day and night after every full moon, everything a prank goes wrong, classes gone wrong, after every quidditch match – either I get hurt playing, someone spikes my drink or I find myself in an inter-house brawl – and every time one of my friends gets hurt. And here I am again, in the Hospital Wing. Only this time, there is no laughter. There are no happy voices.

A few reporters are waiting on the benches in the front, desperate for an interview. Professor McGonagall, Professor Dumbledore and Flitwick are discussing something a few feet away. And I am sitting on the chair next to Dora's bed. Each time I glance at her sleeping face, I feel a twist of guilt. I should have been there to protect her. But I also know that I did what I had to in order to ensure the safety of helpless students. Her skin is paper white, and she has the darkest rings around her eyes. If it weren't for the shallow breaths that came from her dried lips, it would be easy to mistake her for dead.

Apparently, from what they could get off Lily, Dora had been struck with a couple curses, but still battled on. How can someone so small be so strong?

Idly playing with a piece of her hair, I look at the others. Jane is in the bed next to her. She hasn't opened her eyes since she appeared in Hogsmede, so no one knows where she was, and why she arrived to so late. The mediwitch just said Jane was completely mentally and physically exhausted, along with peculiar burns that covered one side of her body. Next to Jane was Sirius, who refused to have anyone inspect him for injury until Jane wakes up. He said he found her as she collapsed, right on the outskirts of Hogsmede.

James was sitting on the edge of Jane's bed, heavily bandaged. His lip had split, his nose was broken, his skull was fractured, three broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder, fractured jaw and a bruise the size of Russia was on his hip. Madame Woodhouse had managed to fix him up mostly, but white bandage still made him look like he had taken a rather bad fall down the stairs. Or gotten beaten up by a couple of bad guys...

Lily was fine. Aside from what turned out to be a partially broken ankle and the start of an infection in a cut on her wrist, she was the picture of health. Except her face was lined with worry as she sat between Jane and Dora. Peter was about somewhere. He didn't do well when it came to being in the hospital wing, so he left to go wherever he goes when he has nothing to do.

"Still not up yet?" A voice with a typical cockney accent asked. Madame Woodhouse bustled over to the six of us. Caroline Woodhouse was a small woman. Probably about Dora's height, she had mousy brown hair that only just brushed her shoulders, hazel-green eyes and positively the smallest mouth I could imagine, a mouth that was home to the straightest, whitest teeth I have seen in my life. She was a friendly witch, who worked as head healer at St Mungos for a couple years before deciding that Hogwarts needed her more. So she was by no means young, but she was just one of those people would looked to be anywhere between 25 years old and 50.

"The poor dear. I'll just check on Miss Meadows before I try wake Miss Potter here." I watched her mutter a few spells over Dora before smiling. "Looks like this one was lucky. She is responding to treatment well. She'll be eating solids in no time!"

Her smile was contagious, and I found myself calmed by the fact that Dora would be awake and eating and be her normal self in no time. The little mediwitch bustled over to Jane. "Mr Potter, I will need you to get off the bed if I am to help your sister." She said firmly, waving her wand again to levitate James to the ground. "Your parents should be arriving soon. Do you really want to have to explain to them that their only daughter is still unconscious because you refused to cooperate?"

I resisted the urge to smirk. That was a low blow. The only thing I had ever seen James scared off was the time he had magically locked Jane in the basement. His parents had gotten home earlier than scheduled and well... James has never done anything bad so far as Jane goes again. So no sounds of protest came from James, who had paled even more and was staring at Jane as though willing her to wake up.

To be honest, I can't blame him for this moody behaviour. He had already sworn at every reporter who dared come near his sister, even tried to attack one, and nearly got a law suit filed against him for assault. But it was all because of how worried about Jane he was. It had taken two senior aurors to stop him from apparating back to find Jane, and when he saw her being carried to them by Sirius, we saw _the _James Potter cry.

Yep. Cruel bully of Slytherins actually cried.

But anyway, now Madame Woodhouse was arranging potions next to Jane. "Now Miss Potter has some burns on the one side of her body. Can anyone tell me what caused these?"

We all looked at each other mutely. Must be from after everyone else left. "Mmmm. Well it don't look like the normal burn potions are working. Peculiar." The matron straightened herself up. "Professor Dumbledore!" she called out to where the professors were still talking. "I think you should see this."

Now I personally think that phrase should be banned from any infirmary or medical place. Nothing stresses people out like that stupid phrase. Seriously. Nothing good comes from that. When I was... When I was bitten, that is what the nurse said when my mum took me to St Mungos to get it checked out. And well... Nothing good did come from it.

So what was so special about her burns not healing? Did that mean Jane would permanently be scarred? She'll spazz out when she finds out.

I watched as Dumbledore leaned over her, holding his beard so it wouldn't land on her – which is funny, regardless of the circumstances – and peering at her over his glasses. "Interesting, Madame Woodhouse. Very interesting."

"With all due respect, Sir." James interjected, his face pulled tight and made him look years older. "But we don't care how interesting it is. It needs to be fixed."

"That, Mr Potter, I cannot do."

"But –"

"Mr Potter, what I mean what I say. That I cannot, not that I will not."

James shut his mouth with a loud click. To be honest, I don't blame him. I am also worried. Jane is a dear friend of mine. Wow, listen to that. I sound 40. But she is. Jane never seemed to care about my condition. Be it because, like many things, she refused to acknowledge its existence, or just because it wasn't an issue to her, I don't mind. Even from James, Sirius and Peter I get pity. I see it in their eyes. I even see it in Lily's eyes, no matter how kind she is. Dora... doesn't know. And I don't want her to. Not yet.

But Jane... it didn't bother her. It was like any pity she could feel for me was instead anger for who bit me. Which is fine with me. So of course I am worried. Jane, out of everyone, is the only one who is always strong and never falters. Sirius lets his emotions rule him and enjoys a fight too much to thing logically. Peter... relies too much on everyone else because he doesn't trust his self anymore. Lily cares too much, if that is possible. Dora... gets upset sometimes. James will easily falter when someone he cares for is hurt. Jane? She gets angry. And her anger makes her stronger, I think.

And it is what makes her a great friend. And what makes this whole situation suck. I rest my head on Dora's bed, letting my eyes focus on nothing. But I was still listening to Dumbledore.

"See, our young Jane has been burned not by normal fire from a candle, or from someone else's wand, but fire from her own magic." Dumbledore was saying.

"So she did this herself?" Lily asked doubtfully.

"Not intentionally, Miss Evans." Dumbledore answered. "I would say that the magic Miss Potter used was in a moment of desperate need. Now I do believe it is time to wake her, Madame Woodhouse?"

I sat up quickly, probably too quickly. It took a small moment for my vision to settle, and I watched as the matron waved her wand over Jane's head, muttering a few words that even I couldn't hear. Jane moved a bit before her eyes opened.

She just lay there motionless, as if no one else was there.

"What is wrong with her?" Lily whispered, her eyes brimming with tears.

Worried, I stood up and moved around Dora's bed to look at Jane.

"Janey?" Sirius whispered, uncertainty and fear reeking off of him.

James just stared at her. "She is fine." He said after a moment before pushing past everyone to look at her. "What is it Jane?"

Her head moved slowly toward James. "I feel tingly." She said in a very soft whisper that I only heard with my... werewolf hearing.

Dumbledore nodded his head, obviously also knowing what she had said, and gestured to her exposed flesh, the flesh that had been burned.

Slowly the burns were fading and I could feel the magic in the air. "That is her, isn't it Professor?" I asked Dumbledore. Lily's eyes grew wider with comprehension. We had both been discussing old magick about a week ago. I had done a bit of reading on it, and it was said that self-inflicted magical wounds healed with the magic that is in the person. And now that Jane was awake, her body had begun that healing process.

"Well I'll be damned!" Madame Woodhouse exclaimed, jumping towards Jane enthusiastically. In a second her wand was waving spells all over Jane, who looked to be a bit startled by the small matron. "Your parents will be happy with this Miss Potter!" the Matron was beaming.

"Happy with what?" Came a stern voice, coming from the tall man approaching. Mr Potter looked stern but joking at the same time. His mother had been Spanish, and it showed. His skin slightly tanned, his hair dark and his eyes deep brown. His normally amused expression was now one of worry as he approached the beds in long strides.

Emily Potter walked next to him, her face as expressionless as a statue.

"Your daughter is making a particularly speedy recovery, Harold and Emily."

"What happened? No one will say." Mrs Potter asked politely, but under her words I could sense the temptation to swear, yell and demand information. Jane gets her personality from _somewhere._

"That is what we would like to know." Came the gruff voice of the head Auror as he pushed past a professor and ignored Madam Woodhouse's glare.

"Mr Potter, Black and Lupin, and Miss Evans, would you mind following Madam Woodhouse to another section on the hospital wing so we may question Miss Potter?" Dumbledore asked in a tone that suggested it was less of a choice and more of an instruction.

After a bit of protest from Sirius and James, we mutely moved a few beds down, whilst Madam Woodhouse fussed around, checking for any injuries she might have missed. I sat on a chair and leaned against the wall, closing my eyes and focusing my hearing on the conversation on the other side of the ward.

"_Tell us what happened." _I heard the Auror ask in a rather rude tone.

"_Don't you dare speak to her like that, you hear me?"_ The unmistakable voice of Emily Potter interrupted.

"_Ma, it's fine."_ Jane said hoarsely. _"Sirius and I were duelling some of the... bad guys. And one of the was trying to get a book on the ground. And Sirius and I thought it would be of worth, so we also grabbed it."_

There was a pause, silence. Then –_"It was a port key and we were in some room. And we fought with him there for a bit and he said he wanted to use Lily and Dora and – James... as examples."_

A sharp intake of breath interrupted her, and I could only assume it came from Emily. _"And so..." _Jane continued, _"We fought him and I stuck him on the ceiling..."_

"_You what?" _The Auror demanded and I couldn't help but smirk. Of course... But this wasn't the part I wanted to hear... I wanted to know what happened after everyone left.

"_Permanent sticking charm. I'm the best. Trust me, it will take _ages_ to get him down."_ Jane spoke only the truth there. _"And so then I fl—" _Jane tactfully coughed, hiding her blunder of nearly revealing being an illegal animagus.

"_I went out to try find where James was. And Sirius and I found them in a dungeon thing. And we got them out. Looked terrible, they did. Poor Dora. Thought she was going to slip into a coma—" _Once again, Jane broke off. _"She's okay, isn't she?"_ And I could imagine her looking at the little blond girl in the bed next to her.

My stomach twisted. Poor Dora. She didn't deserve any of that. _"So we got them out and... found their wands with _accio._ Then when we went into the court yard—"_

_"So it was a house?"_ The Auror interrupted.

"_Yeah. Big one. There was snow on the ground, so it wasn't too far south. And anyways, there were... the bad guys. And the _really_ bad guy."_

"_He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"_ The Auror once again interrupted.

Jane scoffed. _"That sounds so stupid. Why shouldn't he be named? Isn't like having a name will kill someone. So yes, _Voldemort_ was there. And we blasted through a wall and the others apparated whilst James and I made a distraction. Then he reached the spot and apparated."_

I held my breath. This was it. _"But they got in my way, so I quickly drew a few runes in the snow, and made them full of magic and they blew up."_

"_Janey that is wonderful!" _Emily's voice sung as though her daughter hadn't just faced a dark wizard. _"I always knew you were a natural at Runes."_

"_Mrs Potter, may we continue?"_ The Auror once again cut in rudely.

"_Talk like that to my wife or daughter again and I will end you." _I nearly snorted. Mr Potter hated violence. We all knew that.

"_Da, let me carry on?"_ Jane reprimanded her father. _"So then I ran through the bad guys and apparated away and woke up here. The end. Can I see my brother now?"_

I opened my eyes. And saw three faces staring at me expectantly. "You were listening?" Sirius demanded.

"Of course, Padfoot."

"What did they say? Is she all right?" Lily asked, her face full of curiosity. And I knew that as soon as she could, she would interrogate Jane on how she did what.

"They are done now. They just wanted to ask her version of events." I answered, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Mr Potter?" Dumbledore said, approaching. "You may go see your sister now. We have sectioned off her bed for privacy."

James nodded and rushed back to Jane. Dumbledore turned to Lily and Sirius, the latter of which looked to be ready to bolt to Jane's bed too. Peculiar... "You two, please go and speak with the Aurors over at the door. But be careful to mind the media. You don't want to be in the papers."

Sirius and Lily nodded, both wanting to be elsewhere, but did as they were told. "Mr Lupin." Dumbledore said to me. I looked at the wizard I admired. He had done so much for me, so much for so many people. "Firstly, I would like to thank and congratulate you on the way in which you behaved and lead the other students to safety."

Feeling a bit awkward, I nodded my head. I just did what I felt was right, and what I was best at. I am good at duelling, but it was due to be a full moon in a couple of days, so I was feeling a bit... off. And feeling like that in a duel would endanger my friends. Besides, the other students needed my help... Yeah, I do feel like absolute crap that I wasn't there when my friends needed me the most.

"Secondly," Dumbledore continued, "you may go see Miss Meadows now."

Smiling slightly, I walked over to Dora's bed. "Remus?" I heard her voice ask and pretty much feel my stomach melt.

I sat next to her bed and took her hand. "I'm here, Dora."

Her face settled and her breathing became slower and deeper; sleeping.

Feeling a bit at peace myself, I squeezed her hand a bit and lay my head on her bed. Such a beautiful angel.

I let my thoughts drift, catching little bits of conversation happening. Talk of death eaters. Talk of some sort of order. Talk of death. But I was with my blonde haired angel. And I smiled.

"I'll always be here, Dora."

**A/N**

Soooooo sorry for the long wait. I had written this, and the last few chapters. But I hated how I had ended it, so I rewrote it. This is such a hard chapter to write, just because writing after the major climax in a story always is hard and you have to deal with the repercussions of the action etc. So I am still not happy with it, but maybe one day I'll come back and fix it. Sorry if it is absolute crap.

Also, the title is a song from Angels and Airwaves, arguably the best band in the world. The lyrics are amazing. And I think they suit Remus. I have also listened to it 157 times on itunes...

Also, small disclaimer since I keep forgetting to do one, I own nothing that you recognise.

-x-


	15. Call to Arms

**Call to Arms **

_James' POV_

'_Where will you be in five years?' _I read off a program. How could I possibly know that! I am not a seer. I am a quidditch player.

Ceremonies are the most boring, crap-filled, tedious things ever. Graduation ceremonies are _not_ an exception to that rule. Seriously. And I am not the only person in our senior year who felt that way. For the duration of it, Dora was dozing off against Remus' arm in the row in front of us, Sirius, next to me, was charming people's shoelaces so they tied themselves together, and by people I mean every member of Slytherin. Jane was whispering a commentary to Peter, who seemed amused by what she was saying. Peter, in turn, was tearing the program carefully into confetti. It was so boring. Unless you are Lily, of course. Lily was sitting in her seat between Jane and me, positively beaming and her eyes wet with tears. We had already done our speeches. Mine, which made most people laugh and Lily's, which made most people cry.

So it is by no surprise that by the end of it, I really needed some juice. Juice rocks. Seriously. Pumpkin juice, tomato juice, guava juice, carrot and pineapple juice... it all rocks. So that was where we stood; by the juice. Drinking said juice.

"...I can't believe this is it! Wow, we are free." Lily was babbling on excitedly, which made me smile. I didn't really want to leave Hogwarts.

Leaving meant we were adults. It meant that we now had to face the world with no protection. And we already knew what lay in this world. I shivered.

"Ahh! Just the students – oh pardon me, _past_ students, I was looking for!" Dumbledore approached with a smile and misty eyes. Poor old coot; Hogwarts would be boring without us. "I was wondering if I could see you all in my office?" He asked before any of us had a chance to greet him.

"Jane, did you do something?" Dora mockingly asked Jane, who gave her a cheeky grin.

"What are they going to do? Give me a detention?" Jane replied, grinning even more as we rounded the corner to Dumbledore's office.

"Seriously, did you do something?" Peter asked, his face gleaming with excitement and what I am pretty sure are tears.

"Like how Sirius made numerous people trip after the ceremony?" Jane replied, leading our way onto the spiral staircase. "Maybe. But let's just say i used a timing charm, and a sticking charm, on Dolohov's hand..."

"Jane, you ever going to let up with your vendetta against him?" Lily asked with a sigh and I snorted in response.

"He is a death eater!" I answered for Jane, earning a glare from my Lily.

"Lily he is." Jane added, trying to divert Lily's anger away from me. And for that I was thankful. Lily is the girl – I can't believe I am saying this – that I seriously want to marry had have 4 kids with. And live in a house and have a pet bunny with. But don't tell anyone about the bunny part. If anyone asks, that is her idea.

"Jane, you can't prove that." Remus answered, holding Dumbledore's door open for us.

"I don't need to prove it because I just know it!" Jane snapped back, moving to stand next to Sirius, who was focused entirely on Dumbledore who was standing next to Faux, petting his head.

"Now there is a reason I have asked you all to come up here." Dumbledore began, pointedly ignoring Jane's arguing. I took Lily's hand. I think I know what this is about.

"As you are all very well aware, Tom Riddle, whom you know as Voldemort, has been recruiting Death Eaters." He continued. Yep. Most certainly know what this is about.

"I am firmly against the ideologies Voldemort has embodied in his quest for power." Dumbledore sighed and ran a hand over his beard. Maybe I'll have a beard one day just so I can do that. When I am an old wizard, like he is. Except I'll have grandchildren and not a school.

Anyways, back to Dumbledore and his talking. "I have started a cause myself," he began, "I have started a cause against him. The Order of the Phoenix."

I glanced at Faux and wondered if he thought the name of Dumbledore's cause made him proud.

"Now I am telling you seven this," Dumbledore continued, "because I am inviting you to join, now that you have graduated."

I felt myself grin.

"I'm in!" Sirius said before any of us had a chance to process what Dumbledore was saying.

"Me too." Dora said, her face absent of everything but for seriousness and determination.

Did I want to be in it? Hells freaking yes! After our little encounter a few weeks ago, fighting against Voldemort was on the top of my list, right underneath marrying Lily and having kids. But I didn't want a family in a world threatened by Voldemort. "I'll also do it."

"Why not? We already had our first taste of what sort of wizards and witches they are." Remus said, smiling not at Dumbledore, but at us.

"I agree. Most definitely. It isn't right what he is trying to do." Lily put in, squeezing my hand. Squeezing her hand in return, I turned to look at Jane.

"Jane? You in or you out?" I asked, trying not to make a big deal out of it if she chose my latter option. Of course she should be in! I am in. Okay, so that is a bit unfair, she can choose what she wants to do, but she would join at a later date anyways.

"I would still be able to study? And get a job?" Jane asked, looking at Dumbledore intently, she relaxed after he nodded. "Then what the hell. I already got on Voldemort's bad side. Might as well follow through with it. Besides, anything to kick scum ass."

Dumbledore chuckled and Sirius threw his arm around her, pouting when she shrugged it off. Jane had told him she would wait until school was over before she even thought about him in that way. Sirius, however, seemed to believe that she had said yes instead. Or he was just trying too hard.

Sirius? Try too hard? Nahh.

But he was. Just because he wasn't used to girls _not_ wanting to be with him. It was such a great thing to see.

"I'll join too!" Peter said, his voice breaking half way through.

"Nearly a man?" Sirius jested, walking over to pat Peter on the shoulder. "Don't worry, we all know that James has yet to reach that point."

"Hey!" I shouted back at him, grinning.

So this was us. Graduated. And acting like first years. I'm so surprised.

"So you are all willing to join the Order?" Dumbledore asked. "I want you to know that under no circumstance should you feel compelled or obligated to do so. Do you understand?"

After a chorus of yeses, Dumbledore sighed and sat down. "Welcome to the Order, then."

And that was it. The start of the rest of our lives. And we were starting them in war.

Actively fighting for what we wanted and believed to be right. And I understood why Dumbledore sighed. We had just been thrown into adult hood way too fast. We wouldn't be like a majority of our classmates who would go out and party and have fun and live life. We would be the ones fighting to make sure they could do that. Fighting for freedom and peace. Fighting against a monster.

I absentmindedly followed the others, allowing myself to be lead by Lily. I wondered where we would be in five years. Goosebumps covered my flesh and I felt the hair on the back of neck rise. Some of us may be dead. I felt my stomach tighten. I was going to lose one of these people I cared so deeply for. Either I was going to bury them, or they would bury me.

And that wasn't a happy thought. Not at all.

Lily must have sensed my mood drop and squeezed my hand, pulling me so she could look in my eyes. Her beautiful emerald ones searched my soul and I felt a fluffy feeling in my stomach.

"It will be fine." She whispered, cupping my face with my hands. "We all have each other; we watch each other's backs. No matter how bad it gets, James, it will always be all of us in it together. They can't take that away."

I smiled, lost in her eyes. She could tell me the sky was actually violet and I would believe her. Regardless of that, I knew she was right.

"We just entered a war, Lil." I whispered back, brushing a strand of red out of her face.

"No James, we were in this war the second the Death Eaters arrived in Hogsmede. No, we were in this war when Sirius came to your house. Or even back when Severus called me... that name. Whether we knew it or not, we were always in this war."

I nodded my head. "I love you, Lily. I really honestly do. And I always will."

"Forever, James. I am yours forever."

The goofiest smile covered my face and I pulled her into a hug. No matter how bad this war got, no matter how much darkness it bought. I would have my light. I would have my Lily. My little piece of hope, of happiness and sunshine.

**A/N**

Two chapters left to go! Haha so excited!

The title is a song by Angels and Airwaves, who I love to bits and pieces. Thought it suited

I have a new story up too! _Shell Cottage_. I'm trying to write a romance story. But it will be short-ish – about 9 chapters all up.

So yes, thank you for reading!

-x-


	16. Dead Wrong

**Dead Wrong**

_Peter POV_

I don't know why I am doing it... But it is who I have always been. And a small part of myself scorned the rest of myself for what I was about to do.

When I say it is who I have always been, I mean it. I don't have a popular-person personality. I am not confident. I don't even know why I got into Gryffindor. Maybe the hat knew that I would die in Slytherin. I don't have near enough brains for Ravenclaw. And I really could never bring myself to care about study. Hufflepuff... well I guess I am just not loyal.

I always have turned my loyalty to whoever I could get the best deal from. I am a turncoat. And as human nature dictates, I want to protect myself. Protect myself by going with who I knew would win. Maybe years of friendship with realists like Remus and Dora has made me less idealistic than many people my age. Unlike my school friends, I already _know_ I cannot change what is to come. I simply do not see the point in trying when failure eminent.

The professors were right in our graduation speeches; these next few days held the biggest decisions of our lives. And the ones I was making I could not unmake. But it was this way or years of fighting a war I was destined to lose.

I take a sip of the stale butter beer and glance at the door. I am early to this meeting with the unknown wizard. And being early is making me nervous.

Just two days ago I joined the Order of the Phoenix. Joined it because I was so used to following my friends I did not stop to think if it was the right side of the war, and by right I do not mean moral. I mean winning.

_He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named._ The mere thought of him made me fearful. But like a coming storm, you could not fight it. It will win. The best you can do is side with it and hope to Merlin you are spared in the end.

But there is that side of me who has grown to actually love my friends. The side that reminds me that I am betraying them. Siding with the people who killed Dora's family, who attacked Hogsmede. Who were wanting to kill Lily, James and Dora. The ethical nature of that aspect of me scorned the very idea of betraying them. Maybe it was this part of me that the sorting hat saw.

I took another sip of stale butterbeer, grimacing at the taste. This is what I got for going to a meeting in the shadiest bar this side of Europe.

Did I have it in me to be brave and stand with my friends? Maybe.

But I think... fear is standing in my way. And in all of my years standing in the marauder's shadow; fear wasn't something I had ever had to conquer. So now... I have no idea how.

Maybe I was just born a betrayer. Maybe I was born like Judas. Maybe I was born only able to take the easy way out.

"Pettigrew?" Came a cruel, cold voice. I looked up to see a cloaked person, shadows obscuring his face.

This was it.

"Yes." I replied.

This really was it.

I am a betrayer.

**AN**

Alrighty, so it is really short, but I felt it was necessary chapter. I always thought Peter was interesting, and no one pays any attention to why he did what he did. I am by no means saying I _like_ him, but I wanted to write him in a way that would at least offer a reason or at least give him a realistic personality.

But yes, title is a song by the Fray. I love the Fray.

One more chapter to go!

-x-


	17. I Got the Way

**I Got the Way**

_Jane POV_

I sat on the edge of my bed, staring out the window. Productive, I know.

I wasn't sure how I was feeling. I had a mess to clean up. Clothes lying on the floor, drawers half pulled out, pillows not in their rightful place on the bed, make-up and hairbrushes piled in the middle of my bed.

Now don't think I am a slob; because I am not. No, this mess can be 100% credited to James and Sirius. But I am not pissed off about it. A bit annoyed, but I really could not bring myself to care. It was partially my fault; I did get the stupid map confiscated. I had been very excited about an owl I had received that evening whilst getting ready for bed.

I really wanted to reply. Immediately. As though if I didn't, the opportunity of a lifetime would slip away. And it really was an opportunity of a lifetime. Impressed with my ability in ancient magick and ancient runes, the European University of Advanced Magic had offered me a scholarship to study _Ancient Texts and Magick_. One of the most coveted courses the University offered; positions were available via invitation only. And well, my invitation was better than most.

To be honest, it might also have something to do with the fact that the few courses I had done with them through correspondence had been totally dominated by me. And by dominated, I mean I _really_ dominated them. Too bad I didn't achieve results like that in other subjects...

The only catch? I had to study on the campus in Andorra. I had to stay on campus. Which was no problem, except that I would be away from my family and friends. But as I said, opportunity of a LIFETIME. Why the hell would I not take it!

They wanted a prompt response, so I gave them one. I wrote a quick letter saying I would be ecstatic to attend, beginning as soon as possible. So once everyone was asleep – I didn't want anyone to know, in case they disagreed with it – I summoned the map and went to the Owlery. Everything went dandy until I was halfway down the stairs on my way and Filch was on his way _up_ the stairs. Bad luck.

So I returned the map back to parchment just as he saw me. So after it being confiscated and a promise that he would report me to McGonagall, I went to bed and didn't tell anyone where the map was. James probably assumed it was still in his trunk. Until this morning.

So could I really blame them? I didn't even get a detention; I explained my situation of McGonagall who teared up and went on about how proud she was of me. I am certainly going to miss her.

But now that special invitation was sitting on my lap, mocking me.

I would have to tell my family and friends sometime. After all, it was only a matter of weeks before I would have to leave.

My stomach knotted. They were all still waiting for their acceptance letters. We would all be splitting up. Going in our own different directions. Lily wanted to go and study medical potion making. James and Sirius wanted to go and be aurors. Peter wanted to work for Gringotts, Remus wanted to look into magical creatures more, and Dora... I don't know. Her mind was too set on revenge to figure out what she wanted to do. Though she had said something about wanting to write for the Daily Prophet and make sure the public knew what was happening to do with Voldemort.

We were all leaving. Just... I was leaving first.

Little kids always want to be first. Right now? I would rather not be.

I sighed and stood up, gripping the letter like it was going to burn through my hand. It was tea-time; my parents, James and Sirius would be sitting in the kitchen, probably talking about me sulking.

I was worried about how my parents would take it, but especially worried about James. We had always been close. Physically and emotionally. Now... I would be in a different country. And Sirius? We were close. Nothing official yet, but it tore up my insides thinking about leaving him. But if I didn't go... I would regret it for the rest of my life.

I walked slowly down the stairs and into the kitchen. Their laughing and chatter died down. "Janey? Are you alright, love? You look a bit sick." My mother asked, her face creasing with worry.

"I'm not sick..." I managed, trying to use every ounce of Gryffindor courage I supposedly had. "But I do have something important to tell you."

James opened his mouth to say something, but Dad elbowed him in the ribs.

I held out my letter. "I got in. On scholarship."

"Jane that is amazing!" Dad excitedly said, standing up to pat me on the back.

"Well done, my baby. We are so proud of you!" My mum looked as excited as my dad.

"What is so nerve-racking about saying that?" James demanded, his brow creased, trying to figure it out.

"She won't be staying here." Sirius said softly, staring intently at me. "Scholarships require you to stay on campus."

I felt my face redden, but fought against it. "Yes. I will have to move to Andorra. Between Spain and France."

"Good thing you know a little bit of Spanish, then." Dad commented, still grinning.

"I don't think 'where is the closest potato' or 'just because I'm better than you' is going to get me far." I commented back, ignoring the look on James' face.

"Congratulations, Jane." Sirius said with a smile, encouragement in his voice, not disappointment. I smiled. He was such an amazing guy.

James was still looking at me with that look. "James, stop it." I snapped, snatching a muffin from the centre of the table. "It is just Andorra. I can visit on weekends and holidays. It isn't like you won't be busy studying to be an auror."

He sighed, pulling his own muffin apart. "Yeah. It is just... what about the Order?"

He glanced wearily at our parents. They were supportive of Order, just not official members. "I'm sure a set of eyes outside of the country will be handy," mum commented, sipping tea. "besides, if something happens, at least you lot will have a place to go out of Britain."

My stomach dropped at the thought. It was a high possibility. "Of course, we will purchase an apartment for you, dear." Dad said like he was talking about a pair of shoes, not an actual place to live.

"I'll visit you." James commented, a tone of congratulations in his voice.

I smiled and sat at the table, eating my muffin and reflecting on the past year. I think I have changed. For the better, I hope. Last year this time, I never would have thought that I would have a dark wizard in my world, let alone actively fight against him.

I glanced at Sirius. He was new too; and I think I might more than like him. But shhh, I would hate to jinx anything.

I looked at my letter, lying on the table next to my mum. I was different. It was almost a rule that you wouldn't get an invitation to EUAM unless you had already been studying one of their courses, let alone get a scholarship. Alright, so I hadn't out-right broken that rule since I was already studying through them for the whole year.

So I more like... bent the rule a bit.

Same with everything else I had begun to do during the year. In the last few months I had stopped outright breaking the school rules. I was bending them. No magic in the hallways? Well then I would just use a timing charm in class. Then I wasn't actually _doing_ magic in the hallway. Or use an object with a hex placed on it in class. I'm a genius.

Seriously, why had we never thought of that before? Like claiming to be out _before_ hours, not after. And there was no rule about being out before hours. There are hundreds of detentions I would never have gotten.

I smiled, and took another muffin. I wish I could bake muffins. But I can't cook. At all. So I'll just stick to eating other people's food. Merlin, how will I survive in Andorra!

I turned to look out the kitchen window. It was a lovely day, and my new grey kitten – my graduation gift – had curled up on my lap. I had named it Cloud. Because he looked like a cloud before a storm. And a storm was coming.

Just not a storm an umbrella would help.

I turned away from the window. Yes, a storm was coming, and I was going to do my best to make sure that once it had passed, the wizarding world wasn't left in ruins.

**A/N**

This is the end. Last chapter :-D

Thank you so much for reading this! I will be writing a sequel. I will publish it in a couple months. Give myself a break from the story. I have another story I will be writing too. And I will start that before the sequel for this story.

Just a bit about the sequel: It is set in the future, centring around Jane when she is much older. The other story I shall be publishing has NOTHING to do with the stories with Jane in them. It will be a 2nd generation one.

But yes, it feels weird finishing this story. After starting in 2008, I think. Wow. Alright, to be honest I didn't write much until this year, but it has still been there in the back of my mind for a while now. So thank you for reading :-) Over 40 000 words. Also, the title is a song by the beautiful Kate Miller-Heidke.

And a final disclaimer: I do not own anything JK Rowling has published in interviews or books, or anything else. I own Jane, and personalities of some of the characters. Names and places and things like that are not mine. And writing these always makes me wonder what JK would write if she got bored and wrote a fan fic for her own books... I would totally do that if I was a famous author.

Thank you again, so much for every read and review.

-x-


End file.
